


the cathartic pieces of what we once were

by your_local_weeb



Series: Nooty’s crossover fics [1]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia Manga Spoilers, Canon-Typical Violence, Homunculi, Human Experimentation, M/M, Manipulation, Queerplatonic Relationships, Sensei | All For One Being an Asshole, Sensei | All For One’s a+ parenting, Swearing, Tags Contain Spoilers, Tags May Change, They/Them Pronouns for Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist), Traitor Uraraka Ochako, i’ll tag as i go, making shit up for the sake of plot, most of the things I write in this fic aren’t even canon I’m just doing it for au purposes, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 37,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25074283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/your_local_weeb/pseuds/your_local_weeb
Summary: Centuries ago, All for One created the Homunculi.Centuries ago, the Homunculi harvested destruction and despair, the hero world was one second away from giving up to the villainsDecades ago, All for One put the Homunculi away, memories plaguing his mindTwenty years ago, All for One took on the alias of Midoriya Hisashi, and fell in love with a woman named Inko.Fifteen years ago, Midoriya Izuku was born. All for One wan’t there.Fifteen seconds ago, he let the Homunculi free.Fifteen seconds ago, he permanently changed the course of the futurein which All for One is the creator of the Homunculiserver
Relationships: Bakugo Katsuki & Kirishima Eijiro, Class 1-A & Midoriya Izuku, First One For All User/Second One For All User (My Hero Academia), Midoriya Izuku & Uraraka Ochako, Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako (One-Sided), Queerplatonic Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic - Relationship, Queerplatonic Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako, Uraraka Ochako & Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Series: Nooty’s crossover fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1976998
Comments: 20
Kudos: 77





	1. Relearning what was Left of the Past

**Author's Note:**

> this was supposed to be a fun crossover idea but the more I tag the more I realise how dark it really is
> 
> things might change as I go along, I’ll probably rewrite and redo chapters if I have the energy, idk
> 
> enjoy it! Despite some of the tags I really hope it isn’t too dark, so tell me if it goes into that territory

* * *

Shigaraki isn’t an idiot.

He may not be the brightest, but he can pick up details, though how small they were varied on how he felt that day. He hung around that nut-job doctor a lot, looking around at all the nomu he and Sensei created.

The lab smelt of decay, though Shigaraki was no stranger to that. It also smelt like ethanol, lemons and pennies. The scent was mostly covered up by Father’s hand, but it couldn’t hide everything.

At the end of the dark lab, there was a rusty door. The door was locked and solid, and when Shigaraki came past it, the last grains of his self control held him back from disintegrating it right there. He once saw Sensei monologue in front of the door when Shigaraki was around twelve years old, talking about how he was conflicted about the “things” at the other end of the door were his greatest creation, or greatest mistake.

He never questioned it, his memory was fuzzed beyond remembrance aside from a few details. Shigaraki’s curiosity wasn’t as bad to the point of killing the cat at that time, but it rose each moment he saw the door.

He also listened in on the doctor talking to Sensei, about how the “things” in that room would help him greatly. This was after he was gravely injured by All Might, forcing him halfway to the graveyard. Sensei, on the other hand, sharply regarded how he couldn't even look at them, how that event made his stomach lurch even further.

Now, Shigaraki was here again, in front of the same door that unknowingly plagued his mind for the last several years. His hands itched with impulsion, his quirk lingering on the cold fingertips. His breathing became heavy as he took off Father’s hand, the smell of the lab becoming stronger. Ethanol, lemons, pennies, _**decay**_.

Consequences were at the back of his mind, trying to stop him, but ultimately failing. They gripped onto him, their long, crooked fingernails digging into his damaged skin. Ultimately it had no effect.

One, two, three, four, five fingers touched the cold metal. The texture of the copper rust became nonexistent as it turned into a harsh dust, creating small clouds as it crashed into the floor. The room on the other side glowed a toxic green.

Shigaraki walked, his footsteps leaving an audible inprint in his ears. The room surrounded him as he looked around, the scent now being replaced with old meat and salty oceans.

The room was small, and the walls contained seven large capsules. Each of them contained one person, all of them resembling humans.

The humans themselves were a contrasting black-and-white, with a few hints of grey and red. All of the creatures were ominously floating in whatever was in those capsules, bubbles falling out of their lips.

The feeling of discovering something that he wasn’t supposed to was squashed down as he gaped. What laid before him excited him, potential radiating off them in waves. He was disappointed that Sensei would lock them away like this, but the feeling didn’t last long.

He looked below him and found a tile that was out of place. Every other tile was grey and bland, collecting dirt and scratches, this one was copper coloured, shiny but dusty. He crouched down in curiosity, extending his fingers once more.

One, three, five fingertips dusted the copper, and it fell below.

Shigaraki reached his hand to the dust pile, holding up his pinkie high to make sure he didn’t disintegrate anything that he needed. His middle finger touched something that felt like leather, and he hurriedly picked it up.

It was a book.

The cover was scratched and dusty, the words “Project Homunculi-The Seven Deadly Sins” etched onto the black leather. The binding was falling apart and some yellowing pages fell out when he picked it up.

Shigaraki hated books, but he couldn’t find any other explanation. He was lucky one of Sensei’s followers taught him how to read, or he’d be at a dead end.

He opened it, the first page ruined in neat handwriting.

_ Day one, January 20 2XXX  
This idea of mine is a hypothesis I have about creating a person that can harbor more than one quirk whilst keeping their original body and mind. I was inspired after my initial failure from the Nomu. _

Nomu? They existed before?

_If this experiment succeeds then the Nomu will be merely a backup, if it should fail, I’ll just search for another option._

_I noticed that my quirk-All for One-gives me the ability to see other quirks. Glowing flashes of colored light, surrounded by rings of a different color. Quirks are considered an extension of the human body, but is that completely true?_

_The answer is probably not, I spoke with the doctor about this matter and after he tested, he concluded that the coloured rings represent the quirk bearer._

_There are three rings, one represents the gender, two represent the quirks from their family that inspired the quirk they have. For example, When I met the doctor, the gender ring was blue, and the quirk rings were green and yellow, one from his mother and one from his grandfather._

_On the surface it might confirm that quirks are just extensions of the human body, but then we bring in the fact that they reflect the human mind._

_The rings can determine someone’s personality, becoming erratic or static depending on their moods. Not only do they act like wavelengths, but they also shine bright or dull depending on the emotions. If it’s something akin to hope or excitement, the rings are blinding, but if they fell to something like despair, the light will go out completely._

_I believe a quirk is something like a soul, the representation of body, mind, and psychology. So my query is this:_

_Is it possible to compress quirks into a small object, creating something like a Philosopher’s stone?_

. . .

Well damn, that was something.

Shigaraki was intrigued, and turned to the next page. The purple ink was smudged but he could somewhat decipher it.

_ Day two, January 21 2XXX  
I realise if I’m going to get the quirks, I need a group of people. _

_ If my calculations are correct then depending on the amount of “souls” I collect, the larger and more power the stone will have. Quirks are powerful things, a few thousand should be enough. _

_ I’ll start by wiping out a small town, even if quirkless people are more prevalent as it’s only been a few decades since the glowing baby, quirks are still there and that alone should be enough for one. _

_ There’s also the subject of **making** the stone, compressing thousands of “souls” isn’t an easy task. Before I start anything I should find out how to do such. _

_ I should also find out how to even get all of the town’s quirks in the first place. Maybe a domino effect will be impactful enough for me to gather them all before the sun comes up. I’ve already thought of half of the plan as well, should be finished by tonight if I think hard enough _

_ Other than that, there isn’t much to talk about. It’s going rather swimmingly, in fact _

_ I’ll come back tomorrow with success, I’m sure of it _

Shigaraki continued reading, the sound of humming metal was almost comforting.

_ Day seven, January 26 2XXX  
I found out what I will name the creatures that will possess the stones. _

_ I feel like “Homunculus” will fit them well, the term means “artificially created humans”. Very good if I say so myself. _

_ The stone is still in the jar, containing thousands of “souls”. Crazy, right?. I’m still proud of the domino effect I put in motion. It was so seamless that I think it might’ve raised my ego. _

_ The way that all of the citizens came trying to attack me only to have their quirk and life taken before their eyes and yet they still came rushing towards me made me feel ecstatic. I only killed one girl that was the child of an important figure in that town and they went buckwild. I probably would have started a war if I tweaked what I did a bit and let it drag out for longer _

_ I grin thinking about it, that town is now in ruins, a relic of my success. _

_ I still have yet to find someone to carry this stone in their body, nevermind willingly. I’ll have to look over the copied quirks in the meantime to keep my memory fresh. _

_ My little brother still doesn’t know what I’m doing, but he’s getting suspicious. If he does find out then I can easily silence him. _

_ What a fate, becoming immortal, being able to recover from any injury AND having your own power to go with it. I’d be jealous if I didn’t have access to those powers and be able to amplify them. _

_ Until I find the first Homunculus, I’ll continue researching. _

Homunculus, huh?

He looked up from the notebook and looked at the people in the capsules, _so that’s what you all are_ , he thought. Shigaraki continued reading the log.

_ Day 10, January 29 2XXX  
I found him, the first one. _

_ He’s a little boy called Selim Bradley, innocent but sharp. I have taken a liking to him as he reminds me of myself in an odd way. _

_ I found him on the street, dirty and down. So I gave him a meal and a home and he was immediately indebted to me, claiming that he’d do anything for me because of what I did. It’s funny how easy it is to manipulate humans depending on how helpless they were. _

_ I brought up the project I was doing and listed all of the pros, he immediately agreed to do it, having a belief that he could “help others” with the power. Bradley may be sharper than most but he’s still a naive child. _

_ Tomorrow I’ll have the doctor inject the philosopher's stone into his bloodstream. If it fails then it might kill him, but I’m willing to make sacrifices. Information is information. _

A young boy?

Shigaraki looked around the room and found a child in one of the capsules. From what he saw he could not be older than twelve, Sensei succeeded in making him a homunculus, didn’t he?

_ Day 11, January 30 2XXX  
It worked. It WORKED. _

_ Bradley is now one with the stone, and he’s using it to its full potential. _

_ The stone gives the possessor the ability to regenerate, become immortal and even give them a special ability of their own. Bradley’s power is controlling shadows and making them into cruel weapons. It seems that the quirks combine considering there are abilities that I did not see in the list and that there are few compared to the thousands that did have a quirk of their own. _

_ A funny thing I noticed is that despite being so humble before, after the stone took place in his body his sense of humanity completely vanished. He claimed that it was because he was no longer human, he was above them. _

_ It was prideful and arrogant, but I was proud of him losing that drive to help others with the powers. It reminded me of my own pride. _

_ The reason for the sudden turnaround might be that the stone brings out the worst in people, their most prevalent “sin”, if you will. Bradley showed an awful lot of pride considering, but it was nowhere near the level he’s currently at. _

_ This also led me to giving him the alias “Pride the Arrogant”, he accepted it with complaint, I feel the name suits him well. _

_ I shall create more, this is possibly my greatest creation. _

Shigaraki got invested at the discovery, before long he read almost the entire book.

He read about how Sensei couldn’t find a second homunculus because all of the subjects’ bodies rejected the stone, killing them in the process. How he found a woman almost die and in his desperation for a second homunculus, injected her with the stone so the regenerative properties could heal her, the woman reborn as the sin “Lust the Lascivious”.

He also read about how Greed came next and how he was the longest one to create solely because every person’s body rejected the stone in a few hours afterward, the stone jumping from form to form before deciding it liked one, becoming Greed the Avaricious.

The creation of the fourth homunculus started with someone stalking Sensei so that they could become a homunculus as well. It was because of the abilities all of the other ones displayed drove them mad with envy, and when they became a Homunculus, that became their name. Envy the Jealous.

Sloth was a regular, slow man who got buffed with the stone and became Sloth the Indolent. He found it boring and skipped over most details.

Shigaraki found out that U.A was opened by Sensei so that when the time called for it he could wipe them all out to create a stone. Wrath was a teacher that taught at the academy. He accepted the stone so that he could live for them. He failed in that aspect, instead living to become Wrath the Furious.

Gluttony was a result of an experiment. Sensei tried to merge and create new quirks, starting with a portal gate. It failed and the jar containing the philosopher's stone broke, the liquid spilt and fused it, creating a life form Sensei called Gluttony the Voracious.

All of this information was, to put it simply, amazing. Years upon years upon years of discovery piled into a singular book.

Shigaraki hated books, but he liked to say that this one was an exception. Somehow he got dragged in and got invested in the log.

He was about to read another contribution when footsteps walked smoothly to his direction.

“You aren’t supposed to be here, Tomura.”

It was the doctor’s voice. He’d been caught. Shigaraki began to reply.

“I wanted to see what you and Sensei were hiding, that’s all.”, he answered.

The doctor merely laughed in response, coming to pick up the book from Shigaraki’s grip. Despite his protests of him not being finished, he just got Father’s hand shoved in front of his face.

“You already know too much, I guess we can't hide anymore.”

He walked over to a capsule, looking sentimental. A gloved hand was brought on top of the foggy glass.

“Yknow, I always wanted to set them free, but he always refused,”

He wiped it, making the boy behind the glass visible through the window.

“Now that you know, he’ll have no excuse not to listen to me” 

* * *

It was raining. Pouring, in fact. All for One pulled out an umbrella in response.

Each step he took left a splashing noise in the process, miniature pools shimmering in the soft moonlight. The smell of smoke was strong and night as the sound of cars and machinery was loud, deafening.

The jar of red liquid sat itself in his mind. He had been looking for a subject but everyone he offered was too much of a coward to take it. He hoped he could find one soon, the first homunculus.

He was lost in thought before he found a small boy sitting by a doorway of a closed shop. He stopped walking. All for One grinned, probably a bit too wide for comfort. The boy in question was wet from the constant rain, perking his head up, black hair glued to his skin.

“Why hello, what are you doing here”

He crouched, red eyes level with his. The boy brought his knees further into his chest, purple eyes drooping.

“I’m running away.”

Vibrant crimson eyes glowed in intrigue. _Why is this young boy trying to run away? What is he running away from?_ , he thought. All for One opened his mouth once more to respond.

“Running away? From what?”

The boy merely huffed.

“You wouldn’t get it, no one does.”, he said.

All for one got curious, cogs creaked and worked in his head.

“Oh really? What would you say to a meal and a roof over your head, young man?”

The boy’s eyes lit up.

“Would you? Would you let me, Mister?”

His voice was filled with a tiny sliver of hope, it was amusing, really. He was probably so helpless it’ll be child’s play to manipulate him.

All for one held out a gloved hand. The boy happily accepted it.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

He stood up a bit too fast, the boy stumbled and almost fell down because of it.

“Bradley, Selim Bradley. What about you?”

All for One laughed at the question.

“You don’t need to know that. Not right now anyways.”

_It’s not like you’ll ever know in the first place._

* * *


	2. Reawakening and Release

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All for One makes a choice, and the Homunculi have got a _lot_ of catching up to do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Out of context snippet
> 
> Envy: I think that I will cause problems on purpose  
> Shigaraki, tired: do. NOT
> 
> This does have descriptions of stabbing at the end, just a disclaimer just in case

All for One would decide if he regretted this decision by the results it brought.

When the doctor once again brought up the homunculi, he was having an alright day. Sure, he did practically nothing but sit there, but then again he couldn’t do much when his arch nemesis crippled him to the point where it’s a miracle that he’s still alive. All for One did _not_ want a repeat of the last conversation that happened with the same topic, so he brought up the same arguments.

Arguments like “He can’t stand to see them again, they probably couldn’t either.” or ”They were a mistake, something that shouldn’t have existed in the first place.” and so on. It was working.

Then, Tomura was brought up.

He didn’t know why and how exactly Tomura found out about them, but there was no avoiding it now, was there?

When All for One was accused of not using the Homunculi to their full potential, he knocked them out and stored them away. 

Considering the damage they did when they were awake, and the fact that he wanted Tomura to be a killing machine that will eventually destroy hero society to the point of no return, he thought about it.

He thought about the pair that they would be and how much quicker time would go with them together, how his successor would go about using them, and suddenly the past seemed to be more far away and irrelevant by the second.

“Fine, Tomura can have some of the Homunculi”

The corners of the Doctor’s mouth twitched upwards, then fell down again after a thought or two.

“What do you mean by ‘some’?”

All for One sighed, he’d pinch the bridge of his nose as the memories came flowing back if he could. He probably couldn’t handle seeing all of them at once again, especially the ones with the insufferable personalities and abilities, the ones that bring back the memories in the first place, like--

“Envy, Lust, Pride, and--“

\--Wrath.

The doctor raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? What do you mean by those three?”

Shit, he said that aloud, didn’t he?

The doctor waited for a reply, All for One still didn’t know how to respond. The palm over his mouth was starting to feel heavy and wet.

“Envy, Lust, and Pride, do you want those three to be set free?”

No.

But did he have a choice?

Probably not.

He said “Some of the Homunculi” on purpose. He was planning to let a few out at first, slowly awakening more as time went on.

And now that he’s thinking about it, Pride and Envy would most likely taunt him about it for a _long_ time if they were the last ones to be set free, _especially_ Envy--

Damn it. He really dug his own grave this time, huh?

“Let them go, Tomura has control of the homunculi now”

All for One thought it was almost therapeutic, placing his responsibilities into someone else, now the only thing he had to worry about was what she was gonna tell him, and what he was going to tell Tomura to do.

Speaking of, she was supposed to come today, wasn’t she? In a few hours, too.

Well that was something to look forward to, at least.

All for One (figuratively) shut his eyes and rested.

* * *

Uraraka parted ways with her friends as she stretched her arms over her head. She shook out the feeling of jelly on her joints by shaking it off. Breathe in, breathe out.

She hopped as she walked, her steps heavy with intent. Uraraka took out her flip phone and turned it on, checking the time.

It was 3:20 PM, she had an hour to get to the bar.

Breathe in, breathe out. She recalled everything she was gonna tell him, there was probably a fair amount of news that he probably didn’t know yet.

(Read: the information the media tried to hide)

Sometimes she felt regret for betraying her classmates like this, sometimes she felt nothing.

(Sometimes her classmates were replaced with Deku)

It’s not like it’ll change the choice she made all those months ago, this was supposed to help her parents, was it not?

(At this point she’s told herself that so many times it’s become ingrained in her head.)

Oh shut UP inner subconscious, these damn thoughts are the _least_ of the things she needs right now.

Right, where was she?

Oh yeah, Uraraka was going to All for One for a visit.

Step by step she came closer to her destination. Uraraka took to the dark alleyway where no one would recognise her, touching the damp brick walls for the entrance. Her breath was the only thing she could hear before she started holding it. She shivered.

Finally, her fingertips touched it. The door. Uraraka’s breath hitched as she felt around it some more with her palm, touching the cold, metal handle. She flinched, but she still reached for her keys, sifting through them for the right one.

It was grey and blocky, and it was the one she needed. She fiddled and forced it in, pushing clockwise to unlock the door. When Uraraka couldn’t force it any longer, key still in hand, she touched the cold metal again and opened the door.

She stopped holding her breath when she stepped into the chilly warmth, letting one out as Uraraka fell onto her knees, breathing heavily. It took some time before she stood up again and closed the door behind her.

Uraraka adjusted her blazer, hiding the keys in her pocket. She gulped and started walking once more.

She walked past the black containers of Nomu, the stench of decay and old meat was strong. Limes were prevalent as well. Uraraka covered her nose with her hand to stop herself from getting more nauseous--like if she used her quirk for too long.

She reached the door and twisted the gold handle, Uraraka faced All for One on the other side.

* * *

“Right, this is too convoluted, just simplify it and tell me what I need to know, I’ve been locked away for literal decades, I don’t have time to hear an hour long explanation, human.”

Shigaraki was gonna lose it if Envy didn’t first.

“Too complicated” this, “Too long” that, where was the “shut UP and listen” button on this annoying little--

Inhale.

_Don’t disintegrate them yet, not now, Shigaraki._

But god it was tempting.

He was a bit pissed that Sensei didn’t say anything about how _infuriating_ this shithead was, it was always “Oh, Envy is an interesting creature.” and “Oh, Envy’s a bit of a troublemaker.”

A _bit_? Yeah, that is a huge understatement.

He was starting to regret reading that log in the first place, his hatred of books was coming back. He didn’t know how 3AM Shigaraki stayed so calm and composed, but 4PM Shigaraki desperately wanted to know.

He breathed deeply and started at the beginning. Again. Cutting down even _more_ information.

“So, when you got put away, All Might became a pro hero. He managed to take the world by storm,”

Envy rolled their eyes and nodded.

“He was a massive influence, crime rates lowered and then everyone became dependent on him for everything. It’s annoying to hear his name every second you’re alive, so that was a catalyst on how me and some others decided to destroy everything, starting with him.”

Envy fiddled with their hair as they listened (he hoped they listened).

“We tried to kill All Might before with a nomu, it didn’t work. This time, we’re trying to kidnap and convert a U.A student to villainy so that society will lose hope in the heroes. We don’t know when that’ll happen, but I’m hoping it’s soon.”

Envy yawned and rubbed their eyes.

“Is that all?”, Envy asked.

Shigaraki hummed.

“Yeah, basically.”

Footsteps, Shigaraki got startled and almost yelped. Almost.

“Well, this was enlightening,”

Oh right, Lust was also here. He completely forgot about her due to the fact that the pain in the ass called Envy overshadowed everything else.

“Thanks for telling us, I also found some news articles whilst you were speaking, the sports festival is still going on?”

Shigaraki nodded. He took out a picture of Bakugo and placed it on the wooden desk, his chained feet facing both of the Homunculi.

“I’m planning on getting this feisty guy, Sensei agreed to it. Don’t you think that the villainous potential is practically pulsing off of him?”

Lust hummed, Envy snickered.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get over you calling Father, ‘Sensei’, doesn’t feel natural”

Lust absentmindedly spoke, Envy looked at the picture presented in front of them.

“Yeah, his eyes are red. It reminds me of the stones.”, Envy regarded.

Lust leaned over, quite literally extending her fingernail. The tip pointed next to Bakugo’s neck.

“You could say that.”

A swift movement followed Lust’s voice. A cut in the photograph, straight through the throat.

“And even if he isn’t villain material, I can think of plenty of uses for him.”

She smiled wide, Envy followed right after.

* * *

“Hello, All for One.”

She doesn’t know when she’ll get used to talking to the number-one villain. He smiled wide. Dreadfully wide.

“Hello again, Uraraka.”

She walked to the seat in front of the window. Uraraka sat down whilst crossing her legs, hands clenched on her lap, denting her palms with thin crescent moons.

Her bag fell limply at her left, she held her head high and her face stoic.

“What can you tell me today?”, All for One asked.

Uraraka gulped and started to speak.

“Two weeks from now, me and my class are going to a training camp to prepare for the provisional license exams. All Might won’t be there because of what happened recently.”

All for One hummed.

“Where would this camp be?”, he asked.

She picked up her bag and opened it with a click. Uraraka began to search for something between the pages of her textbooks before taking out a strip of paper.

“It’s here. The teachers tried to keep it a secret so I found where it was written.”

She held the address in front of his face. All for One grinned almost manically, she still didn’t know how he could see without any eyes.

“Very well, Uraraka. What else?”

She pondered, then spoke again as she put her hand back on her lap.

“The media keeps saying that Endeavor was the hero who handled and arrested Stain, but that isn’t the complete truth. Midoriya, Todoroki, and Iida are the ones who managed to fight him, and not only survive, but win.”

All for One went silent, then quietly laughed (to himself more than anything).

“Interesting, interesting. Anything else you want to tell me?”

She shook her head and put the strip of paper back in her bag before hanging it on her shoulder. All for One nodded

“I see, if you have nothing else to tell me, you are free to go.”

She stood up from the chair and turned to the door. Uraraka left the place without saying goodbye.

. . .

“Well, didn’t realise you started to rely on those humans when we were gone, Father.”

It was that chilling, grating voice. Pride was hiding in the shadows once more.

He walked from the dark spot of the room that All for One couldn’t find him from. His shadows followed from behind.

“I’m almost disappointed, we both know that humans are insignificant ants that only exist to be stepped on.”

Eyes and mouths grew from the growing darkness, pointed tendrils stretching towards him.

“But oh well, what could you do without us, you even got damaged to the point of no return when you locked us away. How does that feel? And replacing us with those _Nomu_.”

The tendrils pierced through the glass, wrapping him in an unidentifiable black, covered with red eyes and hungry mouths.

“Look at you, you must be ashamed to even look like this, how could you even see without any eyes?”

The shadows slowly unwrapped and slid back to their owner. Pride smiled. All for One didn’t.

“I don’t need your pity, Pride. I’ve been handling well on my own.”

The corners of his mouth lowered. Pride turned around with heavy resentment. He spoke once more.

“I’ll be back, don’t expect me to be participating in any plans any time soon, I want to spend some time with Mother, she must miss me.”

He walked away, footsteps leaving dirty, wet prints.

When Pride walked out of the door, All for One reached to talk to his successor.

* * *

“Hello, Tomura.”

Sensei’s voice came from the static screen. Shigaraki turned to face it.

“I got some news from a source. Do you remember when you told me about your plan to kidnap that student?”

Envy leaned back in their chair, answering his question without giving Shigaraki a chance to even breathe.

“Handyman told us about the plan, Father. What do you wanna tell us?”

_Handyman?_

“The source told us that the first years are going to a training camp, from the address they gave me it's located in a rural area that’s known for its forest. The Beast’s Forest located in Nagano, to be specific.”

Father’s hand hid Shigaraki’s manic grin. His hands itched with the decay once more.

“Well, looks like your timing couldn’t be better, Sensei.”

* * *

He walked the streets once more, shaking the red jar in his pocket. Memories of the failed attempts at creating the second Homunculus came rushing back at unwanted speeds.

Screaming, and then a dead body. It was practically routine at this point. Step by step, he felt more vexed by the second.

“Excuse me.”

He stopped walking. All for One turned around to the source of the voice.

“Excuse me, sir, could you please--”

Her voice was weak and hurt. She was a dirty woman who wore an off-beige coat. Small streams of blood fell from her mouth. She coughed sticklily, more red spilling onto the damp concrete.

“I’m sorry, I’m--I just…”

She held a knife that was stuck in her gut. The woman trembled as locks of her black hair fell beside her cheekbones. He didn’t realise the ring of red around the blade was there until she actually clutched it.

“Please, help me.”

Her voice was desperate. If it was any other day, All for One would probably leave her dying as he would have seen no use.

However, like the woman, he was also desperate. Desperate for another Homunculus.

Hm. The stone has healing capabilities, does it not?

He held out a gloved hand.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AFO: i’ve made artificial humans out of actual people i’ve found-one of which is a literal child-and they all call me father. from this i gather that I’m a parental figure  
> Dr Ujiko: cool so are you gonna pay child support  
> AFO: am i gonna what
> 
> Another chapter oh wow. this one feels rushed and lacklustre 
> 
> I’ll update sporadically so please keep that in mind
> 
> other than that thanks for reading k cya


	3. Ready, Set, Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When there’s peace, there’s always a tsunami that destroys it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (edited on 22/7/2020)
> 
> Someone gets their ass kicked tremendously, Pride is indecisive, and the little shit(s) are here. Pacing is a bit fast as well (oof) so be wary of that
> 
> Chapter contains descriptions of blood and injury

Two weeks passed, and Pride found the room where he was locked up in.

He looked at the capsule in front of him. Wrath’s capsule, specifically.

His shadows were irritated, pissed, even; he couldn’t visit mother without him. Pride didn’t know why Father let out only three of them, Wrath was more than an able fighter, his contribution planted arguably more seeds of destruction because of the belief of him being on the heroic side.

Another thing: he was Pride’s father figure. Pride always awed his mother for her altruistic love for him; it was similar with Wrath.

Similar, as in some of the familial love was there, but the fact that they were both homunculi twisted it into something different. Something distortedly foreboding; considering that by technicality, Pride is much older than Wrath could ever dream to be, it made the dynamic more curious than it already was.

Pride always thought about it, laughing about the irony behind it. Sometimes he wonders if things would’ve been different if his mother found out they were homunculi; he doesn’t like thinking about it.

 _Why?_ , he thought. _Why did you not let him free, Father?_

The shadows rose from the ground, tendrils sharpening; the arms accelerated towards the glass, two millimeters away from piercing it, two millimeters away from shattering it completely.

Then, he stopped.

He didn’t know why, but his body stopped moving. He was so close to smashing the glass, but he didn’t.

Now wasn’t that odd?

He manipulated his shadows again, trying to pierce the glass once more.

“Why are you here?”

Oh, it was Lust.

Pride turned around, lowering the tendrils. Lust was sitting by the doorway.

“Why are _you_ here?”, he answered back.

She sighed, walking towards him.

“Father’s successor wants to see you, he wants to include you in a plan he’s orchestrating.”

Pride merely hummed; he started fidgeting with his fingernails.

“Kay then, tell him I’m not coming.”

Lust raised an eyebrow.

“The plan takes place in a forest, another person is going to set the borders aflame; don’t you like wildfires? I thought that you had an obsession with them at some point.”

Pride scowled, purple eyes creasing.

“I’m gonna visit Mother; until I reconstruct the family, then I won’t participate.”

Lust breathed, then sighed, hard. “If that’s what you want.”, she said. 

Lust walked out, her black hair flowing behind her; Pride turned back to Wrath, trying to muster the gut to shatter the capsule again.

He couldn’t. His shadows refused to move once more.

Hm.

No matter, he can do it another time. Pride finally walked out of the room

* * *

Uraraka finished devouring her curry, it tasted alright--living alone and cooking for yourself just raised her ability to not make shitty food.

She chatted happily to Deku and Iida, ~~ignoring the pit of black tar in her gut~~ ; they talked about different nothings, about how hard the day was. Uraraka got vague flashbacks to her nauseous state in the bubble ~~and the tar threatened to spill~~ and laughed about it. Deku ~~cutely~~ sighed in pain as he stretched his limbs, Todoroki silently munching his white rice.

It was nice ~~but suffocating~~ , chatting in peace with her friends ~~that she betrayed every single day since becoming the traitor~~ for once. She didn’t have to worry about a villain attack ~~liar~~ and so she was free to do what she pleased, enjoying being a teenager.

The vibrant orange and salmon hues of the sky melted into a dark navy, the moon painting everything with a luminous white. Pixie-Bob took this as the opportunity to tell everyone about the “Test of Courage”, as they called it. Class 1-B were tasked to frighten Class 1-A, who were in pairs.

Uraraka was paired with Tsu, one of her best friends. She was excited, super excited; she was hopping on her heels when it was their turn to go.

But that wasn’t all; her bright-pink excitement had been overshadowed by a char-black fear.

Uraraka was terrified.

No, it had nothing to do with the forest, or the “Test of Courage” that was about to happen; it was what the League of Villains were going to do.

It was a small blossom, making her jittery. Todoroki and Deku noticed at one point, but after a half-assed explanation they left it alone.

She was glad, so glad, that the League didn’t know that _she_ was the traitor amongst them, it would mean that she wouldn’t have to face the disappointment from her class if they outed her, and the thought alone almost sent Uraraka on the edge of tears.

She decided to glance over the flourishing nature, over the green leaves that were tinted with a dark blue in the night, sofly reflecting the dim moonlight. Over the matte, brown branches; slightly damp from the cool of the evening. Over the tall trees that looked down on her.

She saw them. She saw the League on the mountain tops; shrouded in shadows and malicious villainy. The world stopped, everything stopped. Everything but her heartbeat; in fact, it started to get worse, faster and faster and--

“Are you ok, Uraraka?”

She heard Tsu’s ribbits and it forced her back to earth. Uraraka yelped and assured her she was alright.

“I’m not sure, you’ve been acting off all day.”

Tsu wasn’t wrong, but it still felt like a slap across the face.

“Oh I’m fine, I thought I saw something and I got kinda scared, ha… Ha ha…”

Uraraka hoped that the excuse would suffice. She dearly hoped. It was only a half truth! It wasn’t _too_ far off.

Tsu held her hand for support and smiled, Uraraka meekly grinned back.

The activity had started, the only thing she was scared of was the state of the future.

. . .

Five minutes had passed since they separated and Dabi was finally in the forest, hands aflame with cyan fire. The area around him was lit up with a cerulean glow, illuminating him, Twice, Lust, and Envy.

He was surrounded with trees, tinted with the blue light of his flames. He smiled, straining his staples.

“You _might_ want to get out of the way.”

It was the final warning for the people that accompanied him; a final warning before he spun on his heel, casting his fire from his hands in a kyanite ring. The cyan flames only grew from there.

The fire overtook the trees, blue conquering brown by a landslide. He turned toward Twice, his flames cracking violently.

“Make more clones of me, I want to spread as much fire as possible.”

Twice raised an eyebrow, then reached for his measuring tape as the command finally registered in his head.

“Say no more! So damn demanding, grr…!”

Dabi clone after Dabi clone, all of them went to different areas of the forest, lighting cerulean flames on wood. Lust smiled, her fingernails becoming long spears.

“Say, can I be the one to restrain Eraserhead?”

She scratched a tree that was kindling, the wood fell down with a crash not even seconds later.

Dabi looked at her with squinted eyes.

“Pardon my french, but what the _fuck_ do you mean?”

She laughed again; her voice like sweet venom rolling off her tongue.

“I know you wanted to be the one to restrain him, but even if your flames are as beautiful and dangerous as your eyes, your moves are unoriginal and simple; random as they are, he would figure out how to negate them within seconds,”

Dabi looked offended, Twice looked at both of them in second-hand anxiousness; being stuck in a crossfire wasn’t a pleasant thing

“It would do nothing, is what I’m saying. Get one of your clones to target some of the students, I’ll damage Eraser to the point where he won’t even be able to protect _one_ of then.”

Before Dabi could even argue against her, she was gone. He sighed.

“Damn it, she’s somehow as annoying as that other one, what was their name?”

Dabi looked around, his body temperature suddenly dropping several degrees.

“Where the _**fuck**_ is Envy?”

Dabi paused, before slamming his face into his scarred hands and screaming.

Twice looked equally as panicked. He tried calming down; it ended with him laughing a bit hysterically.

In the end, they just held onto an uneasy hope that Envy followed the plan and would come back by the end of it. Dabi and Twice merely swallowed it and continued what they were supposed to do.

They barely swallowed it.

* * *

Aizawa knew something was wrong as soon as he smelt smoke coming from the forest, and Mandalay’s message confirmed his suspicions. His instinct made him clutch his scarf, the feeling of the carbon fibre on his fingertips.

He hurriedly told Kan to protect the remedial students before kicking down the door and rushing outside. He looked around him, feeling the presence of eyes on his back.

Where? Where was it? Where was the villain? Why did he smell wine and blood? Where--

He turned around, a face greeted him.

“No matter how tough you act, your concern still shines through, Eraserhead.”

Sweet venom filled his ears before it attacked. Everything went silent as he jumped, holding onto the closest thing he could touch. That thing was the building wall.

If he stayed for a second longer, he was sure he would’ve died; he steadied his breathing as the spears retracted. Aizawa saw a young woman below him, her violet eyes glowing in amusement.

“Well, well, aren’t you a fast one?”

He noted her tattoo above her chest; he swore that it looked familiar, too familiar. Aizawa activated his quirk, grabbing his scarf and shooting it down.

It wrapped tightly around her torso; she gasped as he flew down and grabbed her head of hair, kneeing her in the face. Aizawa ignored the scent of Wine and Blood as he rolled her on her stomach, a foot on her back.

Aizawa turned his quirk off, “Tell me where your friends are or your left arm goes.”, he said.

The woman gathered her breath, turning her head around.

“Excuse me?”

He broke the arm, a crunch confirmed the state of it. She screamed, red sparks fluttering at the wound.

_Sparks?_

“You right one is next; I am **not** in the mood to carry you all the way to the police, so be logical and spit it out if you want to keep your legs.”

The woman paused before laughing, dryly. If Aizawa was paying attention then he’d realise the arm he just shattered was completely healed.

“Oh, you ignorant human. What do you know?”

_A superiority complex? What the--_

Aizawa couldn’t finish his thought before five spears pierced his gut. _Where the **hell** did they come from?_

Didn’t matter, he coughed a gob of blood; red splattered on the woman’s back.

He was dazed. The spikes were then forcibly removed from his stomach, spilling blood everywhere. The woman took advantage of his fuzzed state and spun, kicking him in his stomach--with _heals_ , no less.

His wounds bled as he fell on his back; crimson decorated the ground, even as he desperately clutched his abdomen. The woman took this as an invitation to pull his capture weapon towards her, only to rip it into shreds.

The small white strips fell at his feet. His vision was blurred and doubled, his breath barely catching. The demonic woman stood above him, her face overshadowed; everything but her amethyst irises.

“You wanted to know about my friends? Let me tell you something.”

She bent down, her abnormally long nails scooping the remains of his capture weapon.

“I don’t have any you need to worry about, Eraserhead,”

A wicked smile from her blood red lips.

“The only ones you should worry about are your students.”

The strips of white floated dejectedly as if it was paper, it fell onto his stomach, on which it started to stain a bright scarlet.

The woman turned around.

“You’ll probably bleed to death, so I’ll tell you my name,”

She turned her head, her black locks covering half of her pale face.

“I’m known as Lust the Lascivious, a homunculus.”

_Homunculus? That tattoo as well… It can’t be--_

She jumped, her dark silhouette faded into the shadows, leaving Aizawa to die.

_The artificial human… The artificial humans with the Ouroboros tattoo, all of those years ago…_

He attempted to sit up, shaking breath and shaking limbs blocking his movement.

_With **them** roaming again? _

_…Shit, we’re as good as dead._

His hazy eyes landed on the pale scarf, then to his wound. Aizawa went back and forth before he did anything, picking up the stray strips and tying them together in a long rope.

It was rushed, but then again, he couldn’t take his time when he was almost bleeding to death. All Aizawa could do was use his scarf to tie around his stomach to stop the bleeding, slowing the flow of blood tremendously.

Damn it, he couldn’t protect his students in this condition; what kind of teacher was he?

_“The only ones you should worry about are your students.”_

That damn woman--Homunculus--Whatever she was. Lust?

What did she...

All Aizawa knew was that whoever was with her was going for the children, and he wouldn’t be able to stop it.

_Damn it, damn it, damn it, DAMN IT--_

He stood up, his body begging otherwise; Aizawa’s figure quivered immensely as he stood up, clutching his stomach.

He heard frantic footsteps coming from the forest, the silhouette made itself clearer the closer it ran to his line of vision. More and more details made itself clear as the person came into sight.

It was Midoriya. Midoriya and Kota.

They were both safe.

Aizawa’s eyes widened when he saw them. He was shocked at both how willingly Kota went with Midoriya and the actual STATE of Midoriya.

His bones were decimated, again.

(The fact that “again” was there was extremely worrying, but he digressed.)

And once more, Midoriya seemed to have felt absolutely _nothing_ ; even if his arms were resemblant of those dancing inflatable tube men that haunted Aizawa’s nightmares.

“Oh, Thank god you’re here, I have Kota safe with me, I found out part of the reason why the villains are here and--”

Midoriya stopped breathing.

“Oh… Oh my god… Mister Aizawa, are you--”

He held up his hand to silence him.

“Midoriya, those wounds, you did it again, didn’t you?”

He gasped, and then looked down.

“I’m sorry sir, I just--”

Aizawa interrupted him again, “Give me Kota, go find Mandalay and tell her that everyone is allowed to use their quirks to fight back.”

Midoriya’s emerald-green eyes widened , before he picked up the other boys with his (slightly less broken) left hand. He left him next to his teacher, standing up.

“Another thing,”

Midoriya immediately paid attention again when he heard Aizawa’s voice.

“You said you found out part of why the villains were here.”

His winced as he felt a twinge of pain in his abdomen. Midoriya’s eyes widened again.

“The villain that I fought said something about… He asked where Kacchan was.”

Oh.

_“The only ones you should worry about are your students.”_

_**OH.** _

Aizawa’s blood ran cold. He wrapped his arms around Kota,the way he trembled shouldn’t have been healthy. 

“Midoriya, whatever you do, do _not_ let the villains get him.”

Midoriya faltered, before nodding. He turned around and ran, leaving Aizawa alone with Kota.

_Hold on, there’s another thing to tell him._

“Wait!”

Midoriya stopped, turning his body around to face his teacher when he heard his voice.

“Tell Mandalay that everyone has permission to use their quirks to fight.”, he said.

Midoriya blinked, then nodded. He ran away, his arms dragging behind him as the darkness overtook him.

As if it was on queue, four other students emerged from the forest. He heard a “Mister Aizawa!” before they joined him and Kota.

“What the--What happened to you?”, Ojiro barely managed to mutter the words.

Instead of answering, he mustered his strength to stand up and run the remedial students. It hurt like a **bitch** , but Aizawa did it. His students followed right behind.

What they ran in on was nothing short of a mess.

* * *

All for One sighed. Hard.

Two months. Two months of that stone jumping from person to person when it decided it didn’t like them; and for the first time it _finally_ stayed inside one for more than a day.

Greed was possibly the most frustrating thing he ever created, both in creation and the creation itself. He didn’t wipe out an entire school of people for this annoying irritation that now has a vast amount of power.

“Well, whatcha gonna do with me, Pops?”

Greed’s voice made his blood boil; the very thought of it made him pissed off.

“Do what your brothers and sister is doing, just _go_.”

Greed even had the nerve to look _offended_ when those words spat out of his mouth. “Well, no need to be so agitated, Pops.”, he responded.

All for One felt himself almost succumbing to the need to scream; he only managed to stay “calm” by the skin of his teeth, carmine eyes twitching.

“Fine, fine, I’ll go. Just remember that you brought this upon yourself.”

With that ominous message, Greed finally left.

He didn’t even call him “Father” like the rest of them, instead calling him some immature nickname as if they were even remotely close. Greed was All for One’s biggest pet peeves.

He just hoped that he would be at least a bit useful.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> give some kudos and leave a comment ples, tell me how you liked it and what I can improve on


	4. Life is Unfair, Isn’t It?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They always did say that impersonation is the sincerest form of flattery, didn’t they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **  
>   
>  _if you’re reading this entire fic from start to finish AFTER 22/7/2020, then you can ignore all of the text below_  
>   
> **  
> 
> 
> I made some adjustments on the previous chapter, if you read the chapter when it was released **please **reread from the lines****
> 
> **  
> ** “He looked around him, feeling the presence of eyes on his back.“ to “ He turned around, a face greeted him.” **  
> **
> 
> **  
> **and “It wrapped tightly around her torso; she gasped as he flew down and grabbed her head of hair, kneeing her in the face.“ to ”Aizawa turned his quirk off, “Tell me where your friends are or your left arm goes.”, he said.”, **  
> **
> 
> **  
> **“He turned around and ran, leaving Aizawa alone with Kota.” to “ He mustered his strength to stand up and run the remedial students.”,**  
> **
> 
> Otherwise, the rest of the fic won’t make sense

The smell of smoke was suffocating; elderberry gas fooling everyone that took a breath, knocking them out.

Burnt berries surrounded Envy as they skipped through the black forest. They decided to take the form of that one green haired student--what was their name? Midoriya? Whoever he was, it didn’t matter.

They peeked through the gaps between the tree, looking for the kid they were supposed to kidnap. His name? Bakugo, probably.

_Hmmmmm… Yeah, it definitely was Bakugo_

Envy was confident that they could spot him, even in this pitch black darkness. Grassy irises scanned and searched for the stone-red eyes and light blond hair. They hummed in annoyance.

“Geez, how long do I have to look for this human.”, they muttered in irritation.

Then, a voice.

“KACCHAN this Kacchan THAT--shut the fuck up; quit changing your mind so much, it’s annoying as HELL.”

… Well, turns out they didn’t need to use their eyes. Envy ran to the source of the voice as the scent of vanilla and mint was swept away with the wind, wondering who the hell “Kacchan” was. Envy promptly ignored the loud fighting noises that came from it.

When they arrived, the area was completely covered in ice. White blades pierced through the solid cold, and Envy had a good idea on who it was.

“Hah? Who the hell are--DEKU?!”

What?

...Was “Deku” a nickname? Or is someone genuinely called “Useless”? That’s just sad.

“Bakugo!”

Envy saw the boy next to him.

“Todoroki!”

They both piqued their heads up as Envy feigned catching their breath; they didn’t even need to breathe.

“Follow--follow me back to camp, I know a route that doesn’t touch the gas.”

The plan was to lead them to where Compress was hiding, so that he could do that blue-marble-magic trick-thing. They hadn’t bothered with learning what it was actually called.

Todoroki then gulped, then gestured with his shoulder to something behind Envy. Oh, did he mean Moonfish?

“Listen, as much as we’d like to go back, there’s another problem that we need to deal with… And it’s whatever _that thing_ is.”

Yeah, it was definitely Moonfish.

Envy turned around and found a black lump on the dirt; it was his body. Was it unconscious? They don’t know, they can barely even see.

“Fresh… Meat… Juicy delicious flesh…”

Oh, he was awake.

Ah, fuck. How were they supposed to convince this nutbag that they were on his side without revealing who they were?

“More… One more...”

He used his teeth to sit himself up, saliva spilling into a shallow pool below him. Moonfish’s eyes locked on the three in front of him, shooting out his gross teeth directly at his targets.

“Get out of the way, Midoriya!”

Envy jumped at Todoroki’s yell as a large chunk of ice summoned itself from beneath his feet, frosty air softly nipped at their skin.

Todoroki’s ice had surrounded Moonfish, supposedly trapping him. Envy didn’t have the heart to tell him that even if he got impaled, they would’ve been ok anyways.

Todoroki turned around, “Are you ok?”, he asked. Envy lifted their head and nodded.

(Could Todoroki see? If they couldn’t, probably not.)

They ignored the alarmingly large thumping in the far distance and started to speak. “Crap, how are we gonna defeat him?”, Envy asked through Midoriya’s voice.

They missed how Bakugo squinted at them.

The thumping got quicker and closer, Envy sure as hell couldn’t avoid it now. Todoroki noticed it as well, looking behind him.

“What the hell is--“

He froze ~~, pun not intended.~~

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thum p thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP--_

**“KACCHAN! TODOROKI!”**

The actual Midoriya belted out their names in desperation as some sort of shadow-monster- _abomination_ thing completely overshadowed both him and the boy that was carrying him. **That** Midoriya looked like he was two steps away from his grave, Envy wondered how he wasn’t dead already.

Bakugo tch’d, Todoroki was confused as hell at both of the Midoriyas.

“Please, use your quirks to restrain dark shadow, Tokoyami has no control over him and he’s gone completely crazy.”

Oh! So **that’s** what that thing was!

Somehow, the real Midoriya didn’t spot Envy yet; it was quite surreal, if they were honest. They were sure the others felt the same.

That shadow monster was approaching fast; its neon-red eye left multicoloured spots behind Envy’s eyelids. Moonfish didn’t react well to its arrival, frankly at all.

“Don’t… No… Don’t take it away …! I found the meat first! Don’t you dare steal it from me!”

Bakugo stopped Todoroki from doing anything as white teeth frantically tore at the monster, the teeth did nothing: instead being caught by the black void, bellowing in a deep voice that any human would’ve been afraid of.

**“Shut up, you’re annoying.”**

The shattering of Moonfish’s teeth was grotesque, even making Envy cringe. A large talon then striked down upon him, hammering Moonfish against the forest, trees and branches crashing down upon the murky ground as the shadow ruthlessly dragged him.

Moonfish was then carelessly tossed into the darkness, knocking him unconscious. Envy looked astonished, even if they had seen more terrifying sights than the dark shadow in front of them (See: Pride the Arrogant).

Envy didn’t even blink before fires and explosions were forced out of sweaty palms, thrusting the shadow back down into where it came from.

A boy with a bird’s head. What was his name, Tokoyami?

Envy missed the way Bakugo scowled in fury before putting his fire out, tilting his head toward Tokoyami, who was panting in pain.

 _Damn, that was his quirk? Kids are too powerful these days_ , Envy wondered.

Midoriya asked if he was ok, in which Tokoyami started to spew an explanation about how his emotions spiraled completely out of control, in which Dark Shadow plunged itself into the darkness.

The boy that carried Midoriya forgave him, Envy always thought it was weird how humans were empathetic towards those that put them in life-threatening situations.

Bakugo began to talk again.

“Now, with that out of the way--“

The way he instantaneously punched Envy in the face made them dazed beyond hell, seemingly teleporting his fist to his cheek solely on how pissed Bakugo was. It was so abrupt that even Wrath probably couldn’t have predicted it _without_ his eyepatch.

“Ow! What the hell was--”

They were then immediately lifted by the collar of their shirt, face inches away from Bakugo’s animalistic facial expression.

“Tell me, what the flying _fuck_ are you?”

It wasn’t even a question, it was a demand. Envy took a breath to respond, only to be interrupted.

“The Deku I know calls me ‘Kacchan’, he still insists on calling me that shitty nickname from when we were kids; but when you approached us, you called me ‘Bakugo’,”

His grip on the shirt tightened.

“Another thing, when we had a source of light, I saw no freckles on your damn face; so to be completely honest I have frankly no idea who the hell you think you’re fooling but it is _not_ me.”

Crap, Envy forgot a detail yet again. First it was a mole under the left eye and now it was some freckles. They really need to pay attention to these things.

“So spit it out, what the **fuck** are you?”

…

_Sigh, guess there’s no hiding it now._

Envy began to speak again.

“Oh, sorry, my mistake,”

They used their hand to wipe at their cheeks, red electricity flashing before freckles appeared.

“Now that’s better, isn’t it?”

They soaked up the shocked reactions like a sponge, Envy sighed.

“Also, wow, didn’t realise you have THAT kind of relationship.”

A swift kick in the jaw released them; somehow no one realised the implications of the last sentence they spoke. Once Envy corrected themself, they started to speak again.

“Well, that’s a shame; but at least now I can transform--“

Red sparks pulsed from their toes, fluidly streamlining all the way to the last strand of hair on their head.

What was left was a toned figure with long clumps of hair that bloomed like a flower when they shapeshifted back. Violet eyes opened, crinkling when Envy smiled.

“--Back into my adorable form.”

If it was even possible, Midoriya’s eyes widened, the rest followed immediately. Bakugo furrowed his eyebrows in typical Bakugo fashion, his stone-red irises reflecting his emotions.

“And to answer your question, I can be whoever you want me to be; I _am_ mostly known as Envy, though.”

Their speech was accompanied with subtle hand gestures, accentuating what they said. The intense scent of Vanilla and toxic mint filled everyone’s nostrils, it made one of them gag.

Bakugo wasn’t having any of it, scowling as his soul-red eyes squinted.

“That’s a lame quirk, you can transform into other people--so what? If you know a person well enough then it’s completely useless.”

Oh, what did he know?

(Nothing, that was what.)

Envy feigned sighing in defeat.

“Oh well, looks like I couldn’t do my job; shame, but I’ll go anyways.”

They turned around after they lied through their teeth, but Envy wasn't finished.

“Just remember that I let you live; if I wanted to, I could easily kill you all. **Right here.** ”

They hopped onto a thick tree branch, hiding themselves in the shadows that accompanied. The students took a few seconds to recover from their exit.

They watched as the group then talked about a plan to get back to camp, using all of the students involved and their quirks. Envy felt pity for Midoriya, this kid was practically half dead with his purple noodle-limbs; and yet he was still able to make a stable plan without that brain of his completely shutting down. He wasn’t a homunculus, so why is that human so reckless? He looked like he didn’t even know the concept of pain.

Bakugo shouted some more as they walked on the dirt, it was amusing when they weren’t the ones being yelled at. Envy grinned maniacally, shooting their shot as Bakugo stopped yelling.

They morphed their arm into a green monstrosity, swinging it down and picking both Tokoyami and Bakugo up within seconds. It was rather seamless, really; not even the rest of the group had realised that they were gone. Mint and Vanilla suffocated both of the students as Envy leaned over to whisper to one of them.

“Now, what did you say about one of my quirks being ‘lame’, Kacchan?”

* * *

Now that he thought about it, Aizawa could finally breathe again.

He didn’t realise it, but when he was fighting that homunculus, the smell of wine and blood took over his body, leaving him almost completely discombobulated. It was only when he went back inside with Kota and four other students could he smell smoke again.

Fire smoke, more specifically. The smoke that exuded out of the blue flames that decorated some of the flipped desks, that left black char marks on the walls.

“Mister Aizawa?”

Ashido’s voice shot through the air, piercing through Aizawa’s ears. He looked over at Vlad, who was currently pinning down a villain with his own blood.

His students and the one from 1-B also looked ready to fight. Too ready.

_What the hell is going on?_

The corners of the villain’s mouth twitched upwards, before growing into an unnerving open-mouthed smile. Flames splurged from his scarred face, kyanite eyes widening.

Kan’s response was to slam him into the wooden floor, discombobulating him into a dazed state. Aizawa was sure that the impact broke several bones, a spine-chilling crunch telling him all he needed to know.

He heard a mumble about a “limit” before Kan stomped on his back; instead of a firm surface, the area turned into a brown sludge.

_Ok, what the actual **fuck**._

The rest of his body followed suit, melting into a muddy puddle, it made Aizawa nauseous.

The room practically exploded with relief and confusion, exclaiming about what the hell that was and that they were glad that the villain was gone. Aizawa swallowed, hard.

His students, they were _kids_ , half of them aren’t even sixteen yet; if he were to let them fight along with the other students, even if they had experience at the U.S.J, there was no reason why they would even survive.

So Aizawa took initiative, and spoke.

“No one in this class is to leave this room.”, he firmly said.

This then sparked an outrage among the students; Kirishima in particular **heavily** resented it, clutching the patch of shirt hovering over his heart.

“My friends are out there, fighting for their lives,” he said, “And you expect me to just sit here and do nothing? If I did that, then forget being a hero, I wouldn’t even be a man!”

Iida pushed his glasses up, when the light didn’t catch the glass, his blue eyes were visible again. They were visible with guilt.

“Kirishima has a point, if we help our classmates then we have a better chance at winning!”

Kirishima was shocked, then he opened his mouth.

“See? Even Iida agrees! Please, Mister Aizawa!”

Aizawa felt a pang of guilt, but it was drowned out almost immediately. He pointed at the remains of his scarf preventing him from bleeding out.

“See this?” Aizawa spoke, “A villain managed to put me out of commission with just a few calculated moves; if I let you out there with the others then I should be preparing to attend your funeral.”

His words were like blades when they rolled off his tongue.

“I won’t even be there to protect you either,” Aizawa said matter-of-factly, “Do you know realise the situation you would trap yourself in? The best move is to gather everybody here so that we’ll know for sure that they’ll be safe.”

Kirishima was frozen, looking down at the floor, his face trembling as he bit his lip in defeat. Kaminari and Ashido looked on in pity, their own hands twitching subconsciously; Aizawa didn’t know what to think.

His words were final, and the students hated it; maybe Aizawa did too.

* * *

_This is it._

Haruma held his breath and tapped the man on the shoulder. His towering height didn’t help his overwhelming presence, his piercing, blood-red eyes made it worse.

The man looked down upon him, probably thinking something along the lines of _“What is this boy doing, why did he alert me?”_ , and Haruma wouldn’t blame him.

“May I help you?”, the man spoke.

The weight of his side ponytail was weighing down upon him, like his fears. _But it would be worth it_ , he convinced himself.

Haruma replied, “I know that you are the ones that are making the homunculi.”

The pitter-patter of the rain was the only sound that he could here; before the man laughed.

“And what if I was? What would you do?”

Flashes of Haruma’s friends clawed through his mind; his jealousy of their other friends who were so much better than him, where their platonic love was actually _mutual_ ; his envy of their status and power, the only thing they all had in common.

The taste of strawberry ice cream started to bloom on his tongue before he snapped out of it. He took a breath, and spoke.

“I want to be a homunculus. I want to be one.”

Those words rolled off his tongue coarsely, jaggedy as they made their way out. It made his mouth hurt to even speak them.

Still, it left nothing in his stomach; the sharp claws of regret completely absent. The man’s face was blank, unreadable. His white hair drooped down in front of his face, framing the bloody eyes; Haruma wondered if he made a mistake.

Eventually, the man replied, “Why do you want to be a homunculus? Do you know what you’ll have to do in order to become one?”

Why?

_I want to be the person my friends would actually want to be with. I want to be with them in the same way that they’re with the others. Power will help me, right? Their other friends have power, so why would I be an exception?_

Does he know what he’ll have to do?

_I don’t, but I’ll go through it if it’s that all it takes for my friends to return._

In the end, he nodded. The man wore a crazed smile in return.

* * *


	5. We Win some, we Lose some

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It doesn’t help that everything about Midoriya was made of glass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **  
>  TW: bad thoughts and hospitals near end of chapter   
>  **
> 
> featuring: an exasperated Dabi, angst, some Dabi and Lust drama maybe, angst, and pain

Lust walked back to the burning forest, her heels clicking boldly with every step. The blue fire drew closer as smoke and lilac gas swirled around her.

Even if the air was thick and suffocatingly smelt of elderberries, she still followed the blurred light of cerulean flames. Eventually, the lilac got thinner, making things visible again.

She strutted towards Twice and Dabi, the latter glaring at her.

“I’m back,” she said, “I managed to clock Eraserhead out of commission, it was so easy that I think I might’ve killed him.”.

Twice started to ramble about how grateful he was and then chastised her for bragging so shamelessly. Lust rolled her eyes in response.

She glanced down to the black soil, a small blue flame catching up with her feet. Lust jumped before it could set her dress on fire.

She wasn’t as immune to fire as the humans were, her body came from several generations before. Yknow, the generation that was actually _affected_ by fire? The generation that didn’t evolve an immunity to flames?

Yes, Lust could heal, but her stone can only regenerate her so many times before it becomes useless.

When she directed her eyes back up, the faraway gas started to dwindle. Lust looked in shock as the last lilac threads dissipated, a sign that said one of the Vanguard Action Squad was out of commission.

The elderberries disappeared, and now the environment was filled with nothing but grey smoke.

“The gas is gone.”, she said matter-of-factly.

Dabi squinted at her, his staples clicking.

“No shit, dumbass.” he replied. Twice perked up.

“Don’t argue!” one side exclaimed, “Continue, I like the drama!”, said another.

Lust sighed; _humans are irritating, why must I work with the insufferable ones?_ , she thought.

They exchanged conversations, her and Dabi’s banter was especially more aggressive compared to other conversations she’s ever participated in. It carried on for who knows how long before her earpiece started to beep. Loudly.

_ ”I’ve successfully captured Bakugo and a friend of his, Envy wondrously helped with the kidnap as well; this mission is now officially over!” _

Oh, that’s nice, Lust thought. She heard the click! of the comm turning off, and took the opportunity to yawn.

She then felt the presence of eyes on her back; when Lust turned around, a chunk of gold disappeared into a bush. This successfully sparked her intrigue, and she decided to pry.

Extending her hand, she activated her spears. Five of them pierced the deep green, none of them touched bone and flesh.

“What’s got you in a twist, Lust?”, Dabi asked.

She paused before retracting her nails; none of them dripped with blood. “I thought I saw something, so I wanted to get rid of it.”

Lust still thinks something is there, but she didn’t push it any further. Dabi yawned, and spoke again.

“Could you stop using your quirk constantly? I don’t like the scent of alcohol.”

Dabi backed up his statement by softly covering his scarred face. Lust merely laughed.

“I can’t control the smell of wine and blood when I use my power,” she answered, “You’ll just have to deal with it.”

An audible sigh told her everything she needed about his opinion on the matter. She turned back to the bush she assaulted; there was nothing but green.

“We need to get going,” Dabi remarked, walking away from his handiwork on the trees, “The smoke and gas hid us, but we couldn’t move from our positions, now that Mustard is unavailable, the gas is gone; let’s go to the meeting point.”

Twice followed with his own remarks, Lust walked behind him without saying a word.

* * *

Envy felt over the fucking moon.

They just captured not even one, but _two_ of the students in a single sweep, and none of the others realised it.

It felt exhilarating approaching the showman with the two teens, him congratulating them on their efforts, and encapsulating the bird and Bakugo in two, small, blue marbles. They reflected the moonlight, the silhouette of the boys glistening in the coloured balls. Envy smiled manically at both of them.

When Compress tossed them into his mouth, Envy raised an eyebrow. When they asked, they were met with “I’m planning on performing a sleight-of-hand magic trick with a spoonful of misdirection.” as a response; but Envy didn’t speak magician, and understood exactly none of the shit he said.

And now they’re both here, in front of the students’ faces, stained in despair; their bruises and wounds adding the cherry on top of the cherry cake.

Envy’s comm repeated Compress’s message, they felt the chrysanthemum of pride bloom when he mentioned them.

Todoroki tossed aside an unconscious body before unleashing an unnecessarily large wedge of ice in their direction. In the end, it didn’t do anything since the duo being completely unaffected; Envy _was_ complimented once on their inane dodging ability, and that compliment didn’t come from nothing.

They giggled as the magician compressed two chunks of ice into two small spheres-of-cyan, obviously flaunting them from his pocket. Tricking the students into thinking that those balls were the friends they were meant to protect only for it to be completely unrelated was a dirty move, but their reactions would make it so worth it, wouldn’t it?

They hopped along from tree-to-tree, following behind Compress as they felt the _crunch_ of the branches and leaves tearing apart, leaving behind large dents on top of the trees.

The meeting point creeped closer, Envy could’ve grasped it with their fingertips. The thing they couldn’t hope to grasp was what was gonna hit them like a remorseless truck only a few seconds after.

Literally.

Three almost grown teenage boys, one with the power to crush a man’s skull, and the others not faring too far behind, fucking _**barraged**_ into them, the white-hot pain marking itself in their bones. Speaking of bones, Envy was sure their spine almost snapped on impact.

The yell of agony they bellowed probably made everyone’s ears ring.

The navy, pale grey and green hues of the environment blended and blurred together into a nauseating coloured soup as they accelerated to speeds that knocked all the air out of them. Envy felt themselves speeding towards the ground, the silhouettes of the Vanguard action squad blurring into blobs of colour.

* * *

If someone told Dabi twenty minutes ago that he would witness a figurative meteor that would be only a foot away from him when he was finished with the kidnap, he’d probably dismiss it as mere idiocy that one of the League members probably said.

It was going well, if he was honest. Most of the Action Squad had come back in one piece; the only casualty he could think of on the top of his head was that Toga only got one person’s worth of blood, but that was about it. It was meant to go well.

Well, he wasn’t exactly known to be the best at maths, but holy _shit_ was he bad at calculations.

The sheer **speed** that the meteor crashed into the gravel probably surpassed light; if Dabi was any closer to them then he probably would’ve **died** , if the massive crater that forced itself into the dirt said anything.

Oh yeah, did he forgot to mention that the meteor consisted of a fully grown man, three kids, and an over-a-century-year-old _twunk_?

You’d really think that nothing can be shell-shocking in the age of quirks, aka **superhuman abilities** , but apparently not.

After getting over what the hell that commotion was, Dabi spotted Compress and Envy underneath the children, he then did the logical thing to tell them to get out of the way before he extended his palm to shoot a blaze of flames.

The kids dodged the beam of blue, albeit barely; the only thing it did was scatter them across the meeting point.

He watched as Lust tried to attack Todoroki with her spears, only for them to get trapped in peaks of ice. He watched as that crazy girl targeted Midoriya, but was cast aside by The One With Multiple Arms.

It was a bit of a wreck, to put it shortly.

It was only when Kurogiri arrived that the fighting stopped, his mist spreading across the plain. At that point Compress and Envy had been unfolded from their marbles, and stood up from the massive crater they sat in for the past minute. When they walked to the portals, Dabi put his hands in his pockets.

“Where’s Bakugo?” he asked. Compress then perked up, starting to sift through his pocket for what he presumed was the marble that contained him.

Now imagine Dabi’s confused disappointment when he found out that he didn’t have it. At all.

That dupli-armed student spoke up at the sight.

“I have never seen you before, so figuring out what your quirk was was difficult; I still tried, and saw that you kept on flaunting that pocket” He spoke, “Your quirk has to do with compressing things, doesn’t it? Tell me, villain,”

He held up two spheres.

“These are our friends, aren’t they?.”

… What the fuck. When did they even get them?

“How did you manage to lose two of our most important pieces right under YOUR nose without even noticing it? How can one human be so incompetent?”

How the hell did he-- Oh, Lust said it for him.

No one answered her, Dabi was incredibly frustrated and confused.

Well, this ended on a hugely disappointing note, how were they supposed to tell--

Oh god damn it, one of those kids are trying to get at them again. Dabi extended a hand, sparks of his quirk kindling in his--

“Hold on, Dabi.”

… What?

“I must apologise for the deceit, but I wanted to try an old bait-and-switch for a magic trick.”

_What is he on about **now?**_

“It’s one of the fundamentals of magic, really, you were oh, so proud of your accomplishment that you failed to notice,”

… Was he saying what Dabi thought he was saying?

“It’s called misdirection, when I flaunt something to the audience‘s focus,”

He took off the mask, his eyes washed in pride.

“It’s because I want to hide something incredibly crucial.”

Compress stuck his tongue out, two blue marbles rolled out to the tip. The fire-light revealed that both Bakugo and Tokoyami were inside them.

_Oh my god._

On one hand, Dabi is impressed on how Compress managed to trick everyone; one the other hand, he wanted to deck him in the face because he didn’t mention what he was gonna do to the rest of the group.

He clicked his fingers, the marbles that the student held opened up chunks of Shouto’s ice. By the time the others realised, Compress was halfway to the portal.

The students’ faces were on a scale from horrified to down right _aghast_ , Envy looked on in joy and knowing.

Knowing.

That shit knew about what Compress was going to pull, and they didn’t even tell anyone. Asshole.

Compress adjusted his jacket, monologuing on how he needed to go. He was halfway through his speech, halfway through the portal.

Halfway out of there before a shimmering blue beam struck on his mask, completely shattering it

_What the **fuck.**_

The laser came from the bushes, a blonde boy looking distressed as he struck. The marbles were coughed up. Dabi felt like everything went in slow motion.

Halfway from falling, Dabi reached for one at the same as Shouto; Lust was the one who snuck in at the last second and stuck for the ball.

It rolled down her nails like a ramp, clicking and clunking as it landed smoothly in her hand. Dabi widened his eyes before scowling.

“Shit, looks like we both missed it,” he side eyed ~~his brother~~ the boy next to him “Todoroki Shouto.”

After dealing the blow, he turned and started to walk towards Compress, who was frustrated at his “show being ruined”. He clicked his gloved fingers again, unfolding Tokoyami and Bakugo out of their shells.

Lust wrapped her calloused fingers around the blond’s neck, long nails criss crossing over his adam’s apple. When Dabi disappeared into the purple mist, he heard strained words come from Bakugo’s lips, thin carmine ropes spilling from the spears.

_**”Don’t you dare come… Deku.”** _

It reminded him of the picture he saw in the bar, a single slit cut straight through the throat.

* * *

Midoriya’s world plummeted and crashed when the mist disappeared.

How could it not? He couldn’t do anything. _He couldn’t even **save him**_. Kacchan was gone, even though he was so, so close, and it was all his fault.

How could he be so useless? How did everything go so _wrong?_

If he tried to talk about it to someone, they would only talk about how at least Tokoyami was safe; but that wasn’t enough.

The least he could’ve done was to be a hero and save both. Kacchan was his friend, Midoriya’s symbol of victory. Midoriya was right there, and his stupid body couldn’t even **move**.

_Damn it, damn it, damn it, why, why, why WHY--_

The world swirled and became black and white. His vision doubled and blurred as every single sound morphed into static. 

_Despair. He was in despair._

~~He paled at its familiarity.~~

His breath trembled, cracked. Midoriya felt tears fall as he opened his mouth. 

And **wailed**. 

* * *

All for One looked down upon the man strapped to the hospital bed; Yasutoki Itsugou, was it? 

One of his followers bravely volunteered to become a homunculus; when Itsugou put his hand up, many were surprised. Up to that point most of them haven’t seen him do anything but laze around with a dead look in his eyes. 

But All for One knew, he knew his potential. When Itsugou put his mind to something, he could be the most deadly threat the heroes had ever seen, it’s just that he couldn’t find the energy to be one most of the time. 

Now here he was with his scattered long, black hair. His usually dead eyes alight with fear as the stone came closer, **closer.**

Doctor Koudai’s glasses gleamed in the white light, the red stone starting to flow in Itsugou’s blood as he injected it in. 

Silence, then a flash of white and red, followed a deafening screech of pain. The stone was slowly becoming one with the man. 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was so hard to edit solely because I fucked up the html at some points and everything would get underlined and italicised and I had to erase them from every paragraph and I **H**
> 
> pleas leave a kudos and a comment, give some constructive criticism and tell me what you liked about this chapter


	6. Reconnection and Recollection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heroes can get pissed, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> featuring: angry boy
> 
> **TW FOR A DEATH EXPERIENCE AT THE START, PLUS MENTIONS OF BLOOD AT THE END**

Bakugou forgot how to breathe.

His vision melted and greyed when that woman laid her nails on his neck , he didn’t know he even managed to speak when his throat had gone completely **dry**.

The only colour he could see was Deku, his eyebleedingly green hair was a blur in his sight, and then his blood ran _cold_.

He’s gonna follow, he’s gonna run towards him and try to save him, even though his body is practically _destroyed_.

Shit, he doesn’t need his pity, he can save himself! He doesn’t need his help, he doesn’t need it! He doesn’t… He doesn’t…

He’s gonna die.

He’s gonna die if he comes with him. Deku’s gonna die if he follows.

“Don’t…”

His voice was like gravel, coarse and painful.

“Don’t come…”

He was disappearing. Bakugou was disappearing.

_**”Deku.”** _

The world faded to black, he couldn’t hear and he couldn’t feel. Everything was numb, and the smell of blood and alcohol fell from his fingertips.

. . .

Silence. An endless void of black swallowed him.

He couldn’t move. Only fall, fall, fall. There was no air, but he felt a soft force.

Where was he?

Memories. Recollect, reconnect. Deku, blood, wine. Dread encapsulating him, petrifying him in his steps.

Wait.

Did. Did Bakugou die?

. . .

No.

No, no, no, NO.

He can’t die!

Bakugou can’t become the Number 1 if he dies! If he does, then the only person left to take that spot is--

Fuck. Fuck no. Bakugou would rather give up everything he’s worked for than let Half-and-Half or Deku be the Number 1!

He started to hear again, his body angling downward with his feet floating above his body. He fell even faster, a ground catching up towards him.

Bakugou’s eyes widened, the ground was about to make contact with the blond strands of his hair. About to crash head first into the concrete.

The shock in his chest woke him up.

* * *

“You know what I find strange, Gran?”

Torino widened his eyes at the question, before asking what.

“I asked the students for descriptions of the new villains, and I only found two people matching the exact definitions of their descriptions.”, Tsukauchi continued.

Torino looked at the screen, there were the profiles of both Haruma Yotsume and Akina Tomutoshi. He was confused at what Tsukauchi was implying.

“The thing is, these people haven’t been seen for nearly four generations.”

…

What?

“And that’s not all, there had been sightings of villains with almost the exact descriptions back during 2XXX, the time period also known as The Temporary Collapse of Hero Society.

Oh.

_Oh._

“This means we’re most likely dealing with something that could get out of control, **fast** ; I also have a hunch that All for One has something to do with it.”

Damn him. Damn that devil. He was always behind everything that was wrong with the world, wasn’t he?

“I’m just asking you to be careful, Gran.” Tsukauchi said. Torino laughed.

“If I weren’t, I wouldn't have lived as long as I have.”, he replied.

* * *

Shigaraki watched as Bakugou shot up, a spluttering and confused mess. He watched with blinking eyes as he moved around like an animal in his restraints.

 _About time_ , he thought, _it’s been almost a day._

“Hey.” Shigaraki started. Bakugou almost knocked over his chair in surprise. Heh.

“Where the--“, Bakugou looked around, frantically. “Where the fuck am I?”

Envy walked forward, “You’re with us, in a bar; you could say it’s a lair of sorts.”, they said. Bakugou squinted.

“You do know I’m a minor, right? I can’t drink.”, he replied.

 _ **That’s** what you’re bothered about?_ Shigaraki thought. He checked the time on the clock.

Hm.

“15 minutes.”

Bakugou raised a brow. “Til what?”, he asked.

Shigaraki looked straight on. “15 minutes until the evening news, Musutafu channel” he answered.

Bakugou blinked, it was amusing, if Shigaraki was honest.

“The evening news is on at 8PM, we started the Test of Courage at 8:30; how about you stop lying to me?”

Shigaraki smiled behind Father’s hand. “I’m not lying, brat.”

This ignited a flame inside Bakugou. “I couldn’t have been knocked out for that long, hand-face!”

This was met with more silence, Bakugou paled.

“You were asleep for almost a day, it was hard hydrating you when you were out cold.”

Envy giggled, Bakugou didn’t.

“It was almost like you were dead.” Lust added, “Of course, you couldn’t have been; you’re not like me or Envy.”

Bakugou looked visibly confused at the response when the colour returned to his face. He scowled, rattling his restraints.

Shigaraki looked at the clock, 11 minutes. He saw Bakugou become increasingly confused as he tried to budge his feet out of the ropes, he started to growl, getting increasingly louder. Louder. Noisier. Louder. Louder. Panicked--

“Quit it!”

Envy snapped at the boy.

“That’s not gonna do _shit!_ What, were you going to scramble until you fell on the floor and look like a dumbass? Restraints aren’t _that_ easy to escape! What would be the point if the ropes did jack shit?!”

Bakugou tch’d, then stopped. Wasn’t he supposed to be intelligent? What was he meant to achieve with that?

“Say, I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but what are you, anyways?”

Envy quirked an eyebrow, “Hah?”

Bakugou spoke louder, “I said, what are you?”. Envy blinked.

“You said to me back at camp ‘whatcha you say about one of my quirks being lame?’ You said _quirks_ , plural; the only monsters I’ve seen with multiple quirks are those nomus from the U.S.J, but I doubt that you’re one of them, considering how _human_ you are.”

Envy scowled.

“We have a composition near identical to humans, so you aren’t necessarily wrong.”, Lust replied, picking at her nails.

“You didn’t answer my question, dipshit.”

Bakugou’s answer made Lust pause.

“We’re homunculi.”

Shigaraki watched as Bakugou’s head filled with questions. He decided to cut to the point.

“What would you say to joining our side?”

Bakugou blinked.

“Your abilities, your ambition, I can’t believe you’d waste it on being a **_hero_**.”

He spat out the last word with a strong dose of venom.

“You have so much pent up anger that you let out on people like us; hurting people, is that what heroes do? While we’re just trying to fix society’s flaws, the people you idolise stop us from bringing change.”

Shigaraki held up his hands like a preacher as the words rolled off his dry tongue.

“Tell me, Bakugou, will you join our small group who just wants to live a life, or those heroes who look down upon those lower than them, relying and feeding off of All Might’s presence like parasites.”

He felt like he was speaking from experience, his gut reaching towards a truth. He didn’t remember, though, and didn’t care to remember.

Shigaraki tilted his head towards Dabi.

5 minutes. He put the Musutafu Channel on the television.

After many threats and arguments between Bakugou and his group, it came on.

It started out with some mumbo jumbo about the students' safety, Shigaraki saw how the media tried to pry a reaction out of Eraserhead after minutes of not getting the answers they wanted.

Eraserhead. He was cool. Really cool

Bakugou looked at the screen when his name was mentioned, Shigaraki’s eyes widened when he heard what he said.

_”As his teacher, I deeply apologise for not dealing with his explosive behaviour sooner. Many might find that his conduct is disturbing or unbecoming of a student at U.A. However, I will say this: his overwhelming tenacity, determination and devotion to his future as a hero has told me that he will most likely never join the other side no matter what the circumstance calls for,”_

He stopped, holding his head up.

_“If the villains thought they had a chance with him, they’re gravely mistaken.”_

Shigaraki started to tune out the noise coming from the screen and diverted his attention toward Bakugou, he mumbled something under his breath, smirking.

“Dabi, release his restraints.”

The said man furrowed his brows, “Hah? The fuck’re you talking about? He’ll blow my head off.”

Shigaraki sighed and turned to the homunculi, they tilted their bodies away.

They always did have a fear of fire, why was that?

Dabi sighed, “Fine, hey Twice!”

Oh, he was avoiding responsibility. Mood.

Twice wandered towards Bakugou and started unlocking his restraints. “I consider you an equal,” Shigaraki started, “So I’m going to let you have free movement.”

He mumbled something under his breath, he caught the words ‘like hell’ and ‘fuck’ as he rubbed his wrists. How very.

“Now,” Shigaraki started, voices talking in the background, “I assume you’ve made your choice--“

Bakugou charged head on, setting off an explosion.

An explosion that tipped Father off his face.

“Shut UP, you really thought you did something, didn’t ya?”

His blood-red eyes shone with outrage.

“You’re basically saying ‘We want to harass people! Join us because you look angry!’; well, NEWSFLASH! I’ve been wanting to be a hero like All Might since I knew what heroes were!”

His breathing was heavy, sweaty palms outstretched.

“If you wanted me to be a villain like _you_ , sorry, but you’re about 12 years too late. Try again in another lifetime.”

… _This bitch._

Shigaraki looked at his palm, then at Father, discarded onto the scratched wood. Kurogiri immediately released his mist once he saw him twitch.

Despite what everyone thought, he kept calm, outstretching his arm to stop everyone from moving forward.

“I’ve made a mistake in my judgement, it seems.”

He bent down to retrieve Father, placing his hand on his face once more. His quirk was like a weight, almost controlling his hands, almost controlling his urge to destroy and decay.

Shigaraki looked directly at Bakugou, both of their soul-red eyes flaring with a flame.

* * *

Bakugou would’ve trembled if he was a pussy.

He felt like it, he felt like giving in to his pulsing head, his heavy sweat, his shaking breathing, his body that felt like static, his **fear**.

But he didn’t. And it was out of sheer will. The only thing he was bothered about now was getting the _fuck_ outta here.

“Compress, Kurogiri, restrain him.”

Bakugou objected.

“If ya want me to listen to you then GET ON YOUR KNEES and BEG.”

He popped off his quirk in a threat.

“This may not be the training camp, but I can still fight!”

The backdoor, how can he get to the backdoor?

~~Now he wishes he had Deku’s freaky ass analysis.~~

“Lust, didn’t you say that he would be good for something if he objected?”, Crusty asked.

She outstretched her nails, the scent of wine and blood seeping into the tense atmosphere.

“I was thinking about getting answers out of him, specifically about Midoriya.” She answered, “His quirk is rather impressive, too but in the end he wasn’t the one we needed; the most good he’s for now is an ingredient in a stone.”

_Not the one they needed? The hell did that mean!? And what’s that about a stone?_

No time for questions, the freaky woman was walking towards him, a shadow casting over her purple eyes.

Bakugou was now _really_ racking his brain for a diversion. _Damn it, when’s a plan when you need one?_ Shit, they’re coming closer--

Backdoor, backdoor, how can he get backdoor? How can he escape? How-- HOW--

Then, a knock. Three knocks, actually.

“Hello? Pizza-La, Camino store.”

There was a pause, a disbelieving silence from everyone in the room. The villains, him, the “homunculi”, whatever they were, they all thought the same thing.

_… What… Why… Who the fuck ordered **pizza?**_

Or, at least Bakugou thought that. Or thought LIKE that. But y’know.

Anyways.

No one was prepared for All Might to show up at the doorstep, by _punching the entire back wall with the literal force to change the weather_ , no less. Bakugou saw it and was both scared shitless and relieved from his previous fear.

“What? Do you kin the KoolAid man now?”

Bakugou did not know what Envy meant by that statement but something told him that he’d be better off not knowing. No one seemed to catch it either; and if they did, they said nothing.

From behind All Might, Kamui Woods jumped high and used his Lacquer Chain Prison to secure all the villains. It was so fast that Bakugou felt dizzy.

It was like the place exploded with heroes. Edgeshot and even _Gran Torino_ came to defeat the villains.

~~He felt a little useless from not being able to do anything~~

Even the homunculi were restrained, and they were almost invincible.

“Your time is up, villains; why?”

All Might stood his ground, a blue glow shining off his left eye.

**”Because WE ARE HERE.”**

Bakugou couldn’t ignore the feeling of wanting to cry from relief when he said it. He couldn’t care less about the other heroes ~~they were so cool~~ , only on the symbol of peace. His symbol of victory.

“God… So they weren’t kidding about quirk singularity, huh?”, Envy wheezed out.

Dai responded to it differently by setting off his quirk, before the flames could even spread, another hero that Bakugou didn’t recognise knocked him out with a single kick.

_Woah_

All Might placed his hand in Bakugou’s shoulder.

“Shigaraki, you’ve underestimated all of us,” he started. “You’ve underestimated this boy’s soul, the police investigations, and most importantly--Our **anger**.”

There was a weight behind his words, something that made them true, and sincere.

“That’s enough with the childish pranks, it’s time for you to stop, _Tomura Shigaraki_ ”

Holy shit. Is this real? Is he still dead?

The lizard villain started to sputter and gasp, rambling about how All Might was one of the “true heroes” that Stain spared. Bakugou thought it was obnoxious.

“It’d be your best interest to stay put,” the old hero said, “Kenji Hikishi, Sako Atsuhiro, Iguuchi Shuuichi, Toga Himiko, Bubaigawara Jin, Akina Tomutoshi, Haruma Yotsume.”

He started to list off names, the villain’s _real_ names. They were all stunned, Envy and Lust on the other hand looked like they wanted to object.

“Huh?”

Shigaraki cut through by speaking.

“No… You’re wrong… You’re acting like it’s over, like you heroes have actually **won** ; justice? peace? Don’t kid yourself, I’ll destroy those stupid idealogies you hold close,”

His carmine eyes flashed through the hand.

“Also, we don’t have a Haruma or an Akina. If you’re talking about Lust and Envy, they’ll be called what they like to be called.”

The old geezer tch’d under his breath, opening his mouth to speak.

Then, Bakugou started coughing.

He coughed loudly before grey slime splattered from his mouth.

The same applied to all the other villains there. Every hack spilt more gunk, spreading around him before swallowing him up.

_No._

_**NO.** _

His thoughts twisted and warped back in time. Back to middle school. Back to the slime villain incident.

He could breathe or fight it back. The grey sludge engulfed him, and so did the thoughts.

The last thing he saw was All Might, a panicked look in his eyes before reaching out.

Bakugou watched in horror as he failed to even touch him.

* * *

Opening up U.A was probably the best decision that All for One made.

He didn’t know how he didn’t think of it earlier; a building that contained just enough ingredients for a powerful stone, PLUS the added bonus of many participants to become a homunculus.

And all under the guise of a hideaway school that teaches children how to become their very own heroes

Humans were so very naive. Describe a place as enticing as you could and soon enough, hundreds of helpless children will come racing towards it, along with many adults willing to teach those said children.

Including Mutsuotoko Nobuyuki, who volunteered himself to become a homunculus.

It might’ve been how All for One phrased it, planting the idea of being practically invincible to protect his students. He doesn’t think that he would’ve accepted the offer otherwise.

It might’ve also been because Nobuyuki was quirkless, and the opportunity to achieve one was finally in his grasp. All for One didn’t know, and didn’t care to know.

But the point still standed, just like he was standing by the door to the room they were supposed to meet him.

All for One opened the door, inviting Nobuyuki into the lab. He ignored the splatters of blood from the room that branched off to the left.

“Good evening, Midoriya.”

Midoriya Hisashi, the name he hid behind whilst he played the part of principle.

“Good evening to you, too.”

There was sweat falling from his forehead, he must’ve noticed the red room full of defects.

“... May I ask what that door leads to?”, he questioned . All for One ignored him.

“I’m not qualified to do the operation, Doctor Koudai, on the other hand, is!”

A tall, brown haired man emerged from the shadows.

“Remember, Mutsuotoko; you asked for this.”

With that, he left by the door, failing to hear the cries of objection.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter (in my opinion) feels a bit lacklustre compared to others I’ve written, it’s like there’s an element in it that doesn’t make it as good as it could be.
> 
> give some feedback on how this chapter was and what I can do to improve


	7. Shatter the rumours, and win them all

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All for One has been on the stage for too long, it’s time for him to be kicked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TW FOR DEATH. I MEAN ACTUAL DEATH AND VIVID HALLUCINATIONS OF DEATH**
> 
> I actually like this chapter a lot, despite it it not focusing on the homunculi too much (until the end)
> 
> this is the Bakugou rescue chapter, enjoy it

Fuck.

All for One had to do _everything_ , didn’t he?

Damn it, goddamnit. How did… How did--

He didn’t take All Might to be the trickster type at all; striking the bar immediately after the news broadcast? He did have grit in him after all…

Now wasn’t that strange?

Whatever, now he had to go and get Tomura from the heroes. .

Tomura couldn’t defend himself, both of his plans that he made on his own had utterly failed, and he was still the same boy as when All for One found him, only with the added insatiable drive to **destroy**.

He was his mentor, he’d have to get him. All for one was the only one available, after all. Doctor Ujiko was busy with the high-end nomu, and Kurogiri knocked unconscious.

It’s hard to walk when someone has been crippled beyond repair; good thing that he had Nana’s quirk then, wasn’t it?

He reached for his mask, his fingers grasping nothing before it touched something cold. All for One then picked it up, clasping it around his head as it clicked into place, the black metal fitting comfortably with his skin. He felt his breathing start to flow easier the moment he finished.

All for One then gently tore off the tubes on his neck, not even wincing at the pulses of pain that temporarily came with the action.

He breathed deeply, feeling the energy of Nana’s quirk flow in his veins. All for One felt his feet float off the ground, his limbs loose and free. The air softly walked past him as he condescendingly floated, his toes barely touching the scratched tiles.

He activated another quirk, Ragdoll’s search. All for One saw blinding sparks of light in the pitch black, some close and dazzling, and some far and dull.

His pre-existing quirk already lets him see other quirks, but it’s only if All for One and the quirk are in the same room. Plus, he needed his eyes to see them. Ragdoll’s quirk acts as a buff, to make things easier and quicker, to give back the ability he lost.

He started gliding towards Tomura and his group, toward Kamino.

Kamino, where he saw a multicoloured spark. A stone-red star with eight rings, each a different colour, surrounded in an angelic aura of sage green.

One For All. 

However, All for One noticed that this one was different; All Might’s spark was virtually the same, except his light had seven rings, and the aura was a pale yellow.

He had passed it down. All Might had a successor.

All for One didn’t know who the successor was, but he did know that the successor would be nearby. He felt a bit of nostalgia once he saw the dim, ball of light; the sign that the sparks of One For All are almost out.

All for One decided to turn on another quirk of his: infrared vision. It came in useful when he was blind, but it did make him overheat if he used it for a long period of time.

He saw the red, blue and green hues of the environment surrounding him, buildings and people showing themselves almost instantly. The bar was a neon red, a blinding white in a large circle at the side of the building. He saw the heroes, light lining up with person, and sighed.

All for One floated towards the nomu container, the building surrounded by many heroes.

How did they find it? Hmm, turns out the building was not as secret as he thought it was.

Oh well, he can always move them.

All for One decided that it would be a good moment to make an entrance, a good moment to clear up the lies about him being merely a myth.

“It’s usually considered rude to barge into someone’s house without knocking, you know.”

His voice came out gratey and coarse through the filters, but it did nothing to dampen the ice-cold fear that seeped into their bodies.

What a shame, he really didn’t want to use his power so early in the game, but these heroes were interrupting his journy.

He held up his hands with a grin on his face, and used his air cannons and power boosters, sending a shockwave that would have the similar effect of one of All Might’s punches on a particularly bad day; the weather changing ones.

A second didn’t even pass before the area exploded and crumbled into a red and white wasteland. The heroes would’ve died if Best Jeanist didn't get them out of the way.

Huh? One of them sacrificed himself to make sure that his teammates were safe?

Shame, the heroes didn’t die.

Hm...

Disappointing, but at least they’re gone.

He approached the dishevelled man in front of him, before feeling the threads of denim suddenly wrap and tighten around his body. How annoying.

A quirk that can mold and manipulate fibres. It could be strong, but Tomura wouldn’t do any good with it.

The hero made the mistake of staying behind, freezing in his terror as All for One ripped free from the denim threads. He received a fatal blow to his stomach.

There was a second of peace, before crimson sprayed _everywhere_. A hole formed where his abdomen used to be, probably killing the hero in the process.

“Your quirk may be useful, but it is not needed.”

He activated Float again, flying away as he ignored the carnage surrounding him; the hero cried in deafening pain.

* * *

Midoriya heard a loud _boom_ before the section of wall behind him completely evaporated. His blood ran as cold as the breeze that hit his neck, sweat forming on his skin.

What just… What just _happened?_

He was too scared to look behind him, his body refusing to even move. He drowned in the feeling of absolute dread, inevitability. It was like nothing else even existed, like he was **alone**.

The blow, it definitely didn’t come from a hero. Only All Might could make a blast that damaging, but if he said the smash name beforehand, then Midoriya must be becoming deaf.

Only a villain as strong as All Might, why… Why did it sound so familiar?

There was a name in Midoriya’s mind, a name that his brain refused to say. He racked his head to remember, remember, remember.

When the dust cloud cleared, the answer came to him, alongside the name.

“Well,” 

A bone-chilling, grating voice clawed its way in his mind.

“Seems like Tomura is starting to think for himself, I would’ve preferred for you to not get in his way.”

It crept into his nightmares, leaving scratches and tears. The feeling of dread he felt multiplied, making him nauseous.

He grabbed his shirt to steady himself, his terror, his fear, his breathing. The wall in front of him morphed into a blood red image, one that made him almost puke.

An image of him, his friends, lying dead on the concrete. Their lifeless body discarded in pools and splatters of scarlet, in the flames of carnage. Not even the black and grey static couldn’t hide the hallucinations of death behind it.

Above them, it was **him**. Floating above them, holding his hands out in disgusting satisfaction.

It was him.

_”One day, you’ll meet the greatest evil, and you’ll have to make sure he never spreads his evil ever again.”_

It was the one that not even All Might could hope to beat

It was _**All for One.**_

All for One, who had bloomed despair and pain inside the minds of innocent people.

All for One, who caused wars from his incredible power, toying with both parties like marionettes on string.

All for One, who was the subject of many rumours and legends about his wrongdoings and crimes.

All for One, who many regarded as a myth.

All For One, who stood right behind the crumbling wall, who devastated an entire city.

He was here, and he was _real_.

Regret conquered his entire body in bucketfuls; why did he come here? Kacchan could’ve easily saved himself, there would be no reason for him to be here, to be in the presence of **him**. This rescue plan…

It was going to end in death, wasn’t it?

He’s gonna die. He’s gonna die. He’s gonna die he’s gonna die he’s gonna die he's gonna die he's gonna die he's gonna die he's gonna die he's gonnadie he’sgonnadie he’sgonnadie hesgonnadiehesgonnadie—

He’s gonna die if he doesn’t move.

Move.

Move.

Why can’t his body move? Isn’t this the reason he came? Because his body couldn’t move fast enough the first time?

To freeze in fear like this, to go completely against what he came here for, his motivations…

With Full Cowl, he was fully able to get him out in less then a second; but what was he going to do after he got him? Where was he going to go? How could he even do it with so many villains in the way?

Will Kacchan…

Will he…

_Will he survive if he doesn’t move?_

His feet finally soared, panic soaring through his blood, his breathing erratic. Midoriya’s heart stopped when Iida grabbed his shoulder, almost making him faint from the sudden drop in adrenaline.

He wasn’t calm either, there was a tremble in his movement, fear lacing into his actions, his face tainted in utter dread, his face painting out the words “I’m not letting you go out there and _die_.”

What were they meant to do? How could they signal Kacchan to get the hell out of there with them without alerting the villains? Questions plagued his mind like a parasite, infecting him with stress so severe he could pass out.

Then, like an angel answering his prayer, He came down from the heavens. All Might was here.

He and the demonic villain clashed in the middle, air currents so strong they could knock down a skyscraper. It was terrifying that they were on level ground in the first place.

**“YOU’RE NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING WITH THE YOUNG MAN, ALL FOR ONE.”**

Midoriya almost cried.

Now, he didn’t have to worry about being on the battle ground with All for One. Kacchan could hold his ground with the villains, so that gave the group just enough time to concoct and execute a plan.

Hope had completely driven out the despair, clearing his mind enough to make a plan to rescue Kacchan.

The villains were on ground, so the best bet they had was in the air. Todoroki could create a ramp and he and Iida could propel the group upwards to create momentum. Yaoyorozu and Todoroki could stay behind to catch up to them afterwards whilst Midoriya, Iida and Kirishima flew into the air.

Then, someone had to get Kacchan.

On a signal, Kacchan could propel himself to reach them. This would be the biggest, most important part of the plan, so it had to be someone close to him; his friend.

Kirishima. It had to be Kirishima.

He managed to gain Kacchan’s trust, something that Midoriya couldn’t do for _years_. If he responded to a signal, it would be from him.

Midoriya looked at Kirishima, he didn’t know if it was in envy or prospect.

He opened his mouth to speak. This had a 50/50 chance of success, but it was the highest chance they could get.

“Alright,” Midoriya started, “here’s the plan,”

* * *

Dodge. Move. Jump. Attack.

Dodge. Move. Jump. Attack.

Dodge. Move. Jump. Attack.

Dodge. Move.

Jump.

Attack.

Bakugou felt panicked as he dodged their assaults. the League of Villains somehow moving and catching up to him faster than he could react, barely jumping before the girl’s knife could graze him.

Every time he attacked, another villain found an opening. The only thing that kept him from losing to the woman’s freaky ass nails was the adrenaline flowing freely through his veins, his hands getting sweatier with each pump.

The fight was draining, it left him in a pile of explosive anxiety. If he stayed any longer, All Might was gonna hold back on the villain. All Might couldn’t afford to hold back on the demon who stopped him with his _bare hands_.

Thoughts infected him like a parasite, wondering about what the homunculi had said, wondering about how this villain was so powerful, wondering how the **fuck** out of there.

Then, he saw them.

A large ramp of ice sprung up from the ground, a frosty breeze changing the temperature in the air. Three people sprung from the top, almost like they were flying.

From where Bakugou stood, the only thing he could see was Kirishima’s vibrantly red hair, flapping frantically in the wind. The idiots were already far from their starting point when he held out his hand.

 **”COME ON!”** he shouted.

Bakugou didn’t need any prompting. Shigaraki almost got his greasy mitts on him, severely underestimating the sheer power of his quirk.

Bakugou was now spinning in the air, feeling the hair painfully hit his face. When he lost his momentum, he set off another. It was like he was some sort of rocketship.

Bakugou had never flown this high before, the sudden relief and thrill pulsing with each centimetre closer to his destination. He outstretched his arm as far as he could, connecting his fingers with Kirishima’s.

“You **idiot!** You think that I would refuse?” He scoffed, “The look in your eyes was desperate!”

That was a lie, he couldn’t see them from that far away.

“Now, Bakugou, on my mark, set off an explosion—“

“You mean MY MARK, four-eyes!”

Bakugou loudly interrupted him, feeling the wind blow his hair in every single direction. some strands almost landed in his mouth.

“C’mon, guys!” Kirishima yelled, “This ain’t the time for arguing.”

Bakugou tch’d.

From below them, another villain flung themselves in the air. Bakugou immediately recognised them as the bitch that put him in that marble.

Just as quickly, Mt. Lady sized herself up, managing to stop him from knocking them down from the air by using her body as a shield.

Damn, he didn’t know she had it in her.

“Go ahead, you stupid... kids…”

She landed with a crash. Turns out having a miniature cannon ball with the weight of a fully grown man to the nose could knock out a person.

Bakugou could barely make out what was on the ground; the floor was just a grey, black and red blur of colour as he raced by, but it was enough to know that they were about to almost crash down into it.

It crept closer by the millisecond, his blood pumping loudly in his ears.

“Now, Bakugou!”

What,

… Oh, right, the signal.

He set off a few sparks from his palms, before setting off a blinding explosion. It managed to lessen the blow that would’ve killed them if he didn’t time it as accurately as he did.

They landed with a thud, pain pulsing throughout his body. He groaned loudly as he swore with a gravelly tone.

“Fuuuuucckkk that shit hurts.”

Bakugou felt some bruises start to form on his chest and legs, his bones aching. He sat up as agony rang in and out of his limbs.

Ponytail and Half-and-half came from seemingly nowhere, asking if the group was alright and shit. Bakugou replied begrudgingly under his breath before he stood up, teetering off balance.

“We’re planning on going to the Kanagawa prefecture,” Ponytail said, “We’ll blend in with the crowd there so we won’t have to worry about trouble; plus I saw a news helicopter arriving at the scene, so we might be able to watch it from there.

Bakugou sighed and followed them, side by side with Kirishima, he ignored the voices yelling in his head as he walked.

(He was gonna watch a fight between All Might and that boss villain. The villain somehow managed to block one of his attacks, something that sounded downright _impossible_.

All Might was his hero, his symbol of victory. There was a deep pool of anxiety that piled up in his stomach as he thought about the villain who stood on equal ground with, hell, was maybe even more powerful, than All Might.

He always won his battles, but will he even have a chance of surviving this one?)

* * *

It failed.

It utterly failed.

All for One had completely _failed_.

It was meant to be easy, it was meant to work.

How could the souls merge and form a quirk more powerful than any other, hundreds and hundreds of quirks so different and foreign, partner and forge an ability, each stable and unique?

How could All for One’s imitation go so _wrong?_

It was volatile, out of control. A single touch could activate it, making it swallow everything in its path. The quirk would then settle, before violently rattling again, demanding more.

It had an insatiable hunger. It swallowed half of the lab, it swallowed Dr Koudai, and it almost swallowed **him**.

The glassy orb rocked back and forth, getting more agitated by the second. The black and red contents screamed, leaving a ringing in his ears; it screamed loud and louder, it screamed for more.

It moved frantically around the desk, faster and faster. Books and papers were knocked off the desk as All for One almost drove himself mad.

Glass shattered, and he looked up. His eyes widened as the jar containing the red stone was smashed, spilling the liquid onto the orb.

They mixed and merged, screeching and changing into something else, something…

Something that looked rather human.

It was small, and it weeped. It was naked and weak. The thing… It was vulnerable.

All for One looked at it, seething with rage. He was tempted to kill it right then and there, to get rid of the whining altogether; but he just couldn’t, he couldn’t bring himself to.

He thought about how the orb roared with hunger, how it swallowed everything, and how this thing looked pitiful, like he was _sorry_.

“Glutton.” He muttered, silently loathing it as it sat in his palm.

All for One looked at the wreckage in front of him, and scowled.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please give constructive criticism and some kudos. Have a nice day!


	8. Get off your high horse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s about time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TW FOR DEATH AND BLOOD AND OTHER UNPLEASANT THINGS**
> 
> I found the afo vs am fight hard to write. oof.
> 
> I think this chapter is alright, so let me know what you think

Pride felt his world go completely silent, standing in front of his mother. Standing in front of her body.

Standing in front of her gravestone.

His mother was dead. Gone. Deceased. And Pride felt… Loss.

Loss. Why, why did he grieve over her? Why did he feel like a… Like _them?_

He was a homunculus, he threw away unnecessary emotions the moment he dropped his humanity. Happiness? Love? It was only for them, Pride would have a better chance at dying than feeling it.

So why did the pit in his stomach grow larger? Why did it feel so empty? Why did he feel sad?

_Why was he crying?_

Right there, on the dry, grey, graveyard soil, Pride felt reduced to nothing more than a fucking _human_.

The grey granite stared at him, the carved words words _”Anne Bradley, 2XXX—2XXX”_ mocked him, laughed at him, trampled on his pride, his pride of being a homunculus, his pride of being above humans, his pride, **which was his entire existence.**

He killed people remorselessly, smiled down at them as they bled out. He’s driven people into insanity, completely obliterating their sense of safety.

But the moment his mother dies, he weeps? That’s where he draws the line?

It was ridiculous, he felt ridiculous, Pride desperately clutched his hair, tightly shutting his eyes, shutting off all these _emotions_.

_Shut up shut up shut up shut UP SHUT UP—_

“You ok there, young man?”

A voice dragged him down to Earth; it was a voice of a senile man.

Pride didn’t respond.

“Not much of a talker, eh? I wasn’t either.”

The man had grey hair and a pale beard, hunching over his walking stick with a melancholic expression.

“Y’know, the woman on the gravestone was a gem; despite her husband and son disappearing, she stayed strong until her last, dying breath.”

What the hell was he on about?

“I was a friend of hers, one time, she showed me a picture of her, her husband, and her son; oh, how Anne rambled about her son. She so often said he was her pride and joy.”

…

Oh.

“In fact, would you believe me if I said you look quite like him?”

Yes. Yes he would.

_Because Pride **was** her son._

“Ah, what am I saying? Rambling to a young boy about something he knows nothing about? The old age must’ve gotten to my head.”

He chuckled, turning around to leave.

“Goodbye, young man, have a good night!”

Oh, right, it was night.

Pride looked upwards; there were no stars, no meteors to wish upon, only an endless sea of dark blue.

Humans have short lives, they died practically as soon as they were born. Humans were weak and fragile. They all claim to be so tough, but break at the tip of a hat.

So why did they try to live fulfilling lives, some even knowing that it’ll be for nothing? What was the point of it all?

Pride hated not knowing. He hated not knowing why Anne had to die.

He left the graveyard as quick as he came as he pushed down the urge to scream, feeling worse off than when he arrived.

* * *

All Might sent another punch to All for One, his guilt almost pulling him back.

He tried to force the memory of harming Gran Torino back down, his yellow cape almost slipping from his fingers behind him.

“Scoffing at those who just want to live their lives, turning citizens into tools for you to use…!”

He grabbed All for One’s arm, screaming in anger.

“I will NEVER FORGIVE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!”

He sent a punch to his mask, shattering it completely. With every strike, he felt his energy drain from his limbs, the whispers disappearing bit by bit, a sign of One For All slipping from his fingertips.

_”I just want power, it’s thrilling to conquer the world, All Might; being a hero is limiting, one note, being a villain was the best decision I’ve ever made; I even made the perfect creatures in my pursuit, what’s so wrong about that?”_

All for One’s words, they rung in his head like an obnoxious bell, his fist buried deep in All for One’s head, collapsing like clay under his hand.

It did nothing.

Nothing but provoke him.

“Ah, what a lovely memory; I remember this well…”

All Might’s breathing halted, the blood spilling from his wounds getting cold and dry.

“Shimura had the same deadly hubris, the same determination, the same path to her demise...”

_Shut up… SHUT **UP**._

All Might’s true form was creeping through the cracks of his facade, blood creeping up his throat.

“Don’t… Don’t you DARE speak my master’s name from your filthy mouth!”

His hand was shoved deeper in All for One’s skull. He didn’t die, and so he chuckled.

“Ah, Tomura; I forgot to tell you, didn’t I?”

All Might froze, but kept his composure.

“Tell me, symbol, did you know that Shimura had a son? Her son had children of his own, one girl called Hana, and one boy named Tenko.”

Nana never told him about her personal life, so the idea of her having a family was jarring for him to hear.

What was it leading to? What was this devil planning?

“Ah, you don’t know them yet! Tenko goes by a different name these days; if you asked him, he would say that his name was **Tomura Shigaraki**.”

And suddenly, the world didn’t exist anymore.

Toshinori’s blood ran cold, turning into a disgusting slush as he thought about the implications. All for One sent another air cannon, completely knocking him out of his muscle form.

He wasn’t blind, he saw the news helicopter from the corner of his eye; which meant that Toshinori Yagi was bare and vulnerable, all for the public to see.

This man—no, this _villain_ had kidnapped Nana’s grandson, and turned him into a **monster**. How…

No, of COURSE he would, of COURSE All for One would use Nana’s grandson against him out of pure and venomous **spite**.

Like running him down and humiliating his public image wasn’t enough, he casually tossed a bombshell directly at his gut as a catalyst, and _laughed_ about it, knowing that the guilt would haunt him until he died.

“I figured if I wanted to beat you, I’d tear you apart first; it just so happens my first target was your true form! The body you show as the symbol of peace!”

He jovially chatted, like it was a conversation over a cup of tea and not a battle on which he was planning to slaughter.

“Speaking of Tomura, I had come here for him, y’know; he IS my successor. Where’s yours, All Might? Where did you toss him astray?”

He tainted him, even pulling out the successor card in his deck of mockery.

“At least I keep my successor on a high leash, who knew the Number 1 Hero couldn’t even take care of one child?”

**”No…”**

A woman’s voice leaked from the rocks, like a beam of light.

**”Please… You gotta win this… All Might! Don’t… Don’t you dare let him get to you!!”**

And suddenly, he crash landed back on Earth.

Toshinori woke up, and his resolve hardened again.

All for One could taunt him about many things, but his successor was not one of them. Midoriya could save people without anyone’s help, it wasn’t even a year and Toshinori was already so proud.

Memories of the past flashed before his eyes, and the whispers flowed in his muscles again. This time, the electricity that pulsed was green. Green, like Midoriya.

Without even meaning to, All for One brought power back to All Might; he made him stronger, and his determination was pulsing through his veins.

All for One was amused, and responded with a weapon of his own. He channeled his stolen quirks into one arm, creating a mutilated amalgamation of spikes, blades, screws, and pure muscle, glowing a bloody red. It made Toshinori sick to his stomach.

The villain attacked, All Might blocked it with his arm, wincing at the blood and pain that erupted. He directed the pain towards his other arm, using it as a source of power.

Not even All for One would’ve predicted the attack, and that made All Might a little prideful.

“Despite you using that dirty trick, you’re still weak!”

All Might grinned

“That’s because my damn back wasn’t into it!”

He channelled all his power into one fist, his muscles burning with energy.

_”I have a quirk that has been passed on for generations,”_

He heard Nana’s voice ring in his ears.

_”It’s a special ability called One For All, and I want you to be my successor.”_

He won’t go down without a fight, he won’t go down at all.

For Nana.

_”Spread good with it, I believe in you, Toshinori!”_

For the civilians.

_”All Might! All Might! All Might!”_

And for Midoriya.

_”I’m so, so, proud of you.”_

His fist, powered with all the energy and rage from his prime, rammed into All for One’s faceless head.

_Goodbye, All for One!_

_”UNITED… STATES OF … **SMAASSHHH!!** ”_

He felt the impact of his punch, he felt the air swirl and form a tornado, he felt the weather change within a blink of an eye, he felt the villain beneath him get knocked out _cold_.

For a moment, there was an eerie silence, a silence that was filled by the whispers of voices shushing out, the spark of his quirk disappearing.

_And goodbye, One For All…_

He survived. He managed to purge the evil that has haunted everyone for years. The evil that haunted his nightmares when he slept.

Toshinori shut his eyes, squeezing the tears back as he raised his left fist in victory.

* * *

He won.

_He **won!**_

The cheers of the crowd were drowned out, mixing together into watery background noise; the only thing he could hear was his heartbeat, drumming in his ears.

Midoriya‘s vision became blurry with his tears, his nose feeling blocked and heavy. Midoriya watched as All Might pointed at the camera, blood decorating his hand.

_ ”Now, it’s your turn.” _

And just like that, Midoriya’s world slipped from his fingers, completely shattering at his realisation.

All Might was gone, and Deku would be there in his place as his successor.

The others, they cheered, brimming with hope as they chanted his name.

To others, his sudden crying looked like tears of relief, of happiness that he survived. To others, he looked like an emotional crybaby.

To him, they were tears of burden, tears of fear, of being pushed into a spot he never even worried about before.

If Midoriya could see through his tears, he would’ve seen that Bakugou had realized the same thing.

* * *

“Please, Hyakunen, I just want to know what you’re planning!”

His little brother yelled in anger and frustration.

“For the past year, every time I asked you what you were doing, you never gave me a straight answer! And I’ve had enough!”

All for One was annoyed, he almost felt like locking Izuku in a vault to shut him up.

His red eyes were alight with a passion, thin white hair parting like waves.

“I’m your brother, right?” he asked, “Can’t you at least give a vague clue?”

The bar he just set was so low All for One wasn’t even sure he could see it with it being buried so deep.

He clutched a stone in his pocket, almost crushing it in his anger.

“Tell you what, Izuku,”

He took the red stone out of his pocket, brushing his thumb over the smooth surface.

“I’ve also had enough, too.”

His face darkened, his voice weaved with fury.

All for One extended his palm, letting it clash with his brother’s face. He activated a chloroform quirk; white, misty gas knocking out his stunned brother.

“And please, don’t call me Hyakunen.”

He never liked the scent. It smelt like alcohol wipes and lemons, and he never was fond of lemons.

Izuku’s quirklessness had gotten to his head; it was sickening to see him try to stand up to him, despite the obvious power difference.

He looked down at the stone in his hand, then at his sleeping brother. Maybe he’d learn the burdens of having such power by becoming a homunculus.

A homunculus that represented melancholy.

All for One was indifferent to the chance of him dying. Experience was the cruelest teacher, he’d just have a taste of one of her lessons.

He considered himself apathetic to consequences, Acedia and melancholy went hand in hand, didn’t it?

~~And even if his heart panged from the thought of his brother‘s death, then no one needed to know, not even Hyakunen himself.~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hyakunen is the name I gave to AFO. Izuku is the name I gave to his brother
> 
> please leave a comment and kudos. have a nice day!


	9. the dust settled, but did we?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting things over with, and discovering something new along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TW: MENTIONS OF DEATH**
> 
> this took.... longer to write, some parts were really, _really_ boring, and other times I just procrastinated

Whispers invaded Midoriya’s mind.

They weren’t the “Voices in my head that tell me I'm not good enough” metaphor, but literal voices. People seemingly having conversations in his head.

They were low, almost undisturbing, **almost**.

Actually, come to think of it, One for All really messed with his mind for these past few months. He started to see weird rings and balls of light residing in people’s hearts, all of different colours.

It was really hard to get used to.

Sometimes he wondered how All Might dealt with it, listening to the sad murmurs that he couldn’t get rid of, feeling incredibly depressed when he tried to decipher what they meant, ending off a night on an unpleasant note.

Midoriya asked once, he just responded with “I eventually tuned it out.” Midoriya hoped it happened to him soon.

Why was he saying all of this?

Well, the moment All Might sent his last punch, the whispers swelled in volume incredibly.

He almost couldn’t hear the crowd through their cries; their wails of terror and despair composing a tune that rang throughout his body.

It was supposed to be an astounding quirk, one so unique that no other was like it. One that was the only force to combat the evil he’d have to face.

So why did it make him feel so… Sad? Mournful? Why did his dreams morph into visions and memories of the horrid past?

Oh right, his dreams.

He used to dream about weird stuff, like him reaching out to All Might before he belted out the lyrics of Y.M.C.A and turned into a pile of candy; now he dreams of being in the shoes of a blond who died a horrible and terrifying death in a December evening.

It was… Hellish.

Don’t get him wrong, he was extremely thankful for the quirk, it was just that he would rather go without whatever the hell THAT was.

And now, here he was, tired and hazy as the sun harassed his eyes. He didn’t remember what day it was, but he smelt breakfast downstairs.

He tried to remember what had happened the day before, racking his brain for the memories.

It came to him in a flash, like several hands had dragged him through his own mind, pouring information in his brain like a waterfall theough an endless void.

… He didn’t know why that was the only way he could describe it, or why it felt familiar.

Anyways, he remembered it all; Kacchan’s rescue, All Might’s final punch, the internet going buck wild, all of it. Midoriya shivered at his memory of “#UnitedSymbolofSmash” and “#AllForOneSupport” going on trending at the same time on twitter.

Right, what time was it again?

He directed his attention to his alarm clock, the red number flashing in front of him, it was 6:32AM. He woke up later than usual

Midoriya groaned and got up, opening his closet to get out his uniform. By the time he got dressed, sorted out his hair and brushed his teeth, it was almost 7.

He rushed downstairs, greeting his mom as he salivated at the breakfast on the table. It was like he didn’t even stop to breath before he gulfed it all down.

Midoriya took out his phone and checked the time, he had to get the train in the next six minutes.

Quickly, he said goodbye to his mom before hurriedly unlocking his front door and racing down the stairs of his apartment.

He started running to the train station, the murmurs in his head being drowned out by the cars and trucks screeching on the road.

People stared at him weirdly when he actually saw their faces. He felt like an anime girl in the pilot of a cliche slice-of-life who was late for school; except he was a boy, and it wasn’t an anime, nevermind slice-of-life.

He was red in the face and huffing by the time he actually arrived; Midoriya almost passed out.

(If he used One for All to boost his speed, then nobody needed to know)

When the train came, he took a seat. The ride was boring, so he lost himself in his thoughts

The area of the train he sat by wasn’t as crowded as the rest, so he made most of the space given to him; it stayed that way for several destinations.

Then, someone came on.

She had wavy black hair that were tied in two messy space buns, some stray strands falling in the off-white fur of her jacket and her purple-tinted glasses. Her ebony jacket hung over her halter top and leggings, shrowding her in a dark shadow.

Even though he’d never seen her before, she felt...Familiar. Like a bucket of deja-vu had been chucked onto his head.

She was still; relaxed, even, if her mute smile and lax pose said anything. Nothing about her stood out brilliantly other than her obvious attractiveness.

But every second he spent looking at her felt like another minute off his life, she felt _dangerous._ Like she wasn’t even meant to be here, like… The mellow and ordinary of her hid something **deadly.**

The scent of blood and wine surrounding her didn’t help.

Midoriya tried to compose himself, he tried to reach for his phone and check the time. He tapped his foot to a rhythm as he stared at the screen.

The cold that trailed down his spine when her eyes landed on him was indescribable.

Midoriya desperately tried to ignore the feeling as he surfed through apps he never used; the woman continued to stare at him, it unsettled him greatly.

He bit on his finger to distract himself, but that did nothing for the time that seemed to slow down exponentially.

He glanced in her direction, and eye contact was made. Midoriya’s throat closed up and he froze.

Now that he could actually see her eyes, he knew it wasn’t an accident. Her eyes were confident, her smile wider; everything screamed _“I know you more than yourself.”_ , and Midoriya hated the tar that piled up in his gut as a result.

He felt like if she wasn’t so merciful in that very moment, she could easily kill him; and the thought haunted him for the rest of the day.

But nevermind the future, this was about the moment, and at that moment, the train came to a halt.

Midoriya started to panic before the train’s monotone voice pointed out the current stop. The woman stood up, completely nonchalant, and got off at the stop.

Midoriya still felt the shivers from her stare.

* * *

Lust was amused by the new Meloncholy.

It was fun twisting him around her finger for those few seconds, she could see his sense of time forcibly shifting and the consequences of the jarring result, the unexpectancy of the encounter was entertaining, and added a little flavour in the otherwise dull day.

Lust—more specifically, Solaris—was meant to meet the detective for a cup of coffee, but there must’ve been ulterior motives at play.

She saw the cafe he said they’d meet at, and stepped in; Tsukauchi was already there with an iced tea and black coffee.

Lust looked around the cafe. It was empty, too empty; how did he even find this place if it has no customers at all?

There was also a cat-like man behind the counter, probably the only employee in the entire building. Lust immediately raised her guard, too many things didn’t add up for her to feel… Safe.

She waved at Tsukauchi, he smiled back. Lust took a seat opposite him as he started a conversation

“Hello, Solaris. Looking sharp today.”

She knew what his quirk was; he could identify whether something was a truth or a lie. Lust got around this by spouting half truths.

She felt the cat’s glare on the back of her head.

“I always look sharp.” she responded, grabbing the iced tea.

She didn’t need to drink, or eat, for that matter; it just made it more convincing that she was _Solaris_ and not _Lust_ if she had a favourite tea or food. It just turned out that iced tea was the most appetising.

Tsukauchi laughed, “Even your personality is sharp, who woulda known?”

He tapped his fingers on the wooden table. This cafe was rather clean and professional, unexpected from a place that looked so… Out of business. Lust swallowed the chunks of ice she drank up and spoke.

“Say, what did you want to talk to me about?”

He sighed, tapping the handle of the mug with his gloved finger.

“I don’t know, work has been stressing me out lately; y’know, with the whole All for One—homunculi—kidnapping incident,”

He took a sip of the coffee.

“None of the villains have been arrested, which means they can still cause havoc; I don’t like thinking about it.”

Lust hummed, mostly in annoyance. _How the hell did he know about what we were? The only person who knows who we are is that Bakugou kid._

“Homunculi?” She asked. Tsukauchi perked up from his mug.

“Oh!” He started, “We got the information from the kidnapped student—“

Well, that explained it.

“—And I’ve been going down a rabbit hole ever since; I haven’t found much out apart from their names, but even then, I’m not sure that I’ll ever find much information on them.”

Well, wasn’t that convenient?

He claimed that he went down a rabbit hole, but he only managed to find out their names? That was a little contradictory. Was it a bluff? Was he lying? What would be the point then?

Lust doubts that the detective even knew he was now a player on the field, but if he has access to these resources, no matter if he was human or not, he would become a problem very, _very_ quickly.

“That must be very hard for you, how long have you been looking them up?”

She tapped the plastic of the cup, the empty noise ringing throughout the equally barren cafe.

Tsukauchi chuckled, “Thanks for the concern, I’ve only been on this case for a few days—“

He took another sip of the black coffee.

“How about you, Solaris?”

Lust sighed, _deflecting the conversation, brilliant_ , “Not much, just been talking to my siblings more often these days; they’re quite feisty.”

“Quite” was an understatement, considering they have killed people. Several times. Tsukauchi seemed amused by it all; the green glaze that covered his eyes for a split second seemed to register it as truth.

“I didn’t know you had siblings.” He stated.

Lust drank her peach tea again, the ice bouncing off the inners of the straw as she slurped.

“Yeah, lots of them, actually.”

Tsukauchi widened his eyes, drinking his coffee again. “Really?”, he asked. Lust nodded.

“How many?”, he asked. Lust bit her lip, wincing at the taste of black lipstick.

“I’m one of ma—“

Her phone started to buzz, so Lust picked it up

_”Solaris, where the HELL are you?”_

Oh, it was Envy.

_”I’ve been waiting here in the place and time that you suggested for I don’t know how long! Did you actually take a liking to that bitch detective or was the train that slow!”_

Oh, right, they were meant to meet minutes ago; Lust kind of forgot how their sense of time felt slower to them compared to how humans felt time. Being alive for over several hundred years kinda does that to you.

“Sorry, Evelynn, lost track of time; I’ll be there, wait for me.”

She hung up before she could hear their arguments.

“Sorry, that was one of them. I enjoyed this date, but it has to end short.”

She stood up and kissed him on the cheek. 

“Bye, Tsukauchi.”

Lust didn’t look twice before leaving the cafe.

* * *

“Well, whaddya think about that?”

Sansa smiled behind the counter, “That was rather smooth, Naomasa.”

Tsukauchi looked at the half empty cup of tea that “Solaris” had left behind, the pinks and yellows melting together in an orange sludge as droplets of water leaked onto the plastic.

_Solaris? More like Akina Tomutoshi; no one named Solaris has a striking resemblance to one of homunculi._

“You know I don’t feel like dating anyone, nevermind our suspect, Sansa.”

He giggled. “I’m just pulling your leg.”

Tsukauchi gently picked up the cup from the table, a ring of condensation forming on the wood.

“We can get our fingerprint samples here, then we might just have a lead on the homunculi and their business.”

Sansa nodded, getting out the white powder and brush from his apron pocket; he sprinkled it all over the table before using the wide brush, creating translucent clouds with each stroke.

Usually, this would be the part where fingerprints would show up clear as day; they would link it to a person, then use it as a compass to their new hiding spot. The villains would be arrested and everything would go back to order.

Except, the first stage never happened. It was like “Solaris” was never there, like she didn’t exist.

There was only a coating of white on the table of Sansa’s mother’s abandoned cafe. The detective and policeman were shushed like a candlelight, completely silent.

Until Tsukauchi cursed under his breath.

“Shit, this makes things harder for us; the plan didn’t even work.”

Sansa gripped the brush with his paws, scowling in annoyance.

The atmosphere was drenched in frustration, and neither of them liked it.

* * *

The train ride back was uneventful and rather boring, if Lust was honest. She never took note or remembered half of it.

When she got off at the stop, Envy waited for her with a scowl on his face.

“About time!”

This garnered some attraction, but she pushed Envy down.

“Calm down, Evelynn, we’re in public.”

It was exhausting, sometimes, dealing with Envy’s impatience. Lust sometimes wonders how she even manages to put up with it.

Envy frowned, and brushed off Lust’s hand; they started to walk to their destination.

Sometimes, Lust is jealous of Envy’s ability to shapeshit into whoever they want. Lust has to dress well enough to conceal who she was, which took hours, whilst Envy could do it with a tip of a hat.

Lust played with Envy’s hair, wincing.

“How do you have the ability to transform into any existing person or object and yet you choose make your hair _this_ greasy?”

Their fashion sense was alright, Envy liked to wear high platform boots with ripped jeans and their black halter top, topping it off with a leather jacket and a high ponytail; they managed to sell it well enough.

“Hey! Watch your mouth Solaris!”

But it was still enjoyable to tease them about it.

They bickered for a while, jumping to different subjects like they were playing parkour; it was entertaining (On Lust’s side anyways).

They started to quiet down when they finally reached the hideout. They heard metal ring throughout the small room.

“Pride.”

The boy paused. “Hello, Lust.” Then he continued to play with the scraps of metal.

Envy sighed, “Hey there buddy, we’ve got some more information on today’s society.”

Pride stopped, and exhaled loudly.

“Tell me what you have.”

Lust spoke first, “I pretended to go on a date with the detective, turns out we have another liability in the way.”

She released her hair from the buns, shaking out the ache that came with it.

“He’s apparently going down a rabbit hole to figure us out, if he finds out our plans then he’ll tell everyone, and we don’t need that now, do we?”

Envy blinked, then laughed.

“Well, maybe I’ll have to take him out of the field for us, huh, Lust?”

Lust didn’t respond, Pride didn’t either.

“Sure, do whatever you can to stop him.”

She yawned and fell on the tethered couch. Lust ignored her concern at Pride’s recent apathetic activity as she called up Shigaraki.

* * *

Izuku Shigaraki was emotional.

Some called it a flaw, and some called it extreme empathy, but the point still standed.

Shigaraki cried easily, it annoyed Hyakunen a lot, but it didn’t annoy Futahana.

Futahana was a person he adored. He was a shoulder to cry on, a friend to laugh with, and a ray of hope in Shigaraki’s life.

He was a beautiful man, one who had deep navy hair darker than night, dotted with pink stars that brighten his day. He was goofy and light-hearted, but serious and sincere when he needed to be, and…

And Shigaraki loved that. He loved every bit of him with all his small quirks, and more than his ability.

He was super strong, cyan electricity pulsed off him every time he used his quirk. One time he bridal carried Shigaraki, and he wasn’t able to formulate proper sentences for the rest of the day.

Izuku didn’t know what these feelings were, and why he felt so happy around Futahana; but he was content with him, content with his company.

He just hoped that Hyakunen never found out about these feelings, because his gut tells him it wouldn’t be pretty.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending it off on a gay note
> 
> please leave a comment and some kudos. Have a great day!


	10. dust and distribution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Balance. It’s what keeps this world going.
> 
> Without creation? There’d be nothing at all.
> 
> Without destruction? There’d be too much, overwhelming.
> 
> Tipping the scale however much you like brings consequences, but not all people know that.
> 
> And those people? They suffer from it the most

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TW FOR GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF DEATH**
> 
> this is the overhaul chapter boys.
> 
> I liked writing this chapter lol. I hope you enjoy it

Tomura was shocked at the homunculi’s reaction to Gluttony’s release.

He just expected them to be pleasantly surprised, but carry on with their day. Shigaraki didn’t expect them to laugh and smile as they shared their hellos and welcomes, like they were legitimately siblings.

Sensei described them as living weapons, never describing their relationships unless it concerned him. So seeing them act so friendly felt… Jarring, considering what he’s heard.

Well if they treat each other like friends, then Shigaraki should too.

Toga played with her knives, Magne tried to stop her from accidentally hurting herself, which was met with a stuck out tongue.

They really were close, weren’t they?

There was also another matter that nagged him, something that scratched at his brain like an itch.

Where was Twice?

If it went on schedule, then Twice would’ve been here half an hour ago, but he was still missing; Toga was getting concerned.

So Shigaraki waited, tapping his foot impatiently as seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like **hours.**

And then, he finally arrived.

… With a silhouette of a man behind him.

“Hey y’all! I found a new recruit! You see nothing!”

A recruit?

The silhouette began to walk, the shadows burning away as his face and body became clearer.

And his giant beak.

The beak was… incredibly distracting.

“Hello, I assume this is the infamous league of villains?”

 _No shit, dumbass_ Shigaraki wanted to say. He didn’t.

“Yeah, apparently you wanna join us?”

He spoke up as the voice of the group, staring at the beaked-bastard directly in the eyes.

(It was kinda hard to, considering the beak, and Father)

“Ah, I see there has been some miscommunication, I don’t want to work under _you_ ,” Beaked-bastard tightened his white gloves.

**”I want you to work under _me_.”**

The Beaked-Bastard’s words were met with angry glares of betrayal.

“Woah, woah, woah, what do you think YOU’RE saying? That’s not what you said to me!”

Beaked-Bastard ignored Twice and continued to speak.

“Whatever your goals are, whether you want money, freedom, liberation; if you don’t have a solid plan, then you might as well give up. The same works vice-versa, why have a plan without a destination?”

He held out a gloved hand.

“I’ll help you find a path, your wild goose chase is getting embarrassing to watch.”

_This bitch._

The stick up his ass was fucking astronomical.

“Thanks for the offer, but—“

“I’m sorry, but I _refuse._ ”

Shigaraki widened his eyes at Magne’s interruption.

“I joined the League because I want to be free, and I’ve grown close to some of the members; they’re the closest thing to family I’ve got.”

She held up her weapon in her rant.

“Say that you really want us to work under you, that’d mean you’re a head of some big organisation.”

Magne charged for the Beaked-bastard.

**“AND I WON’T BE BOUND TO SOME NUTJOB WHO THINKS HE CAN DO WHAT HE WANTS JUST BECAUSE HE HAS STATUS.”**

She collided with the Beaked-Bastard, and he went from composed to nothing short of **enraged**.

_”Don’t you dare **TOUCH ME”**_

He ripped off a glove, and Magne went up in an explosion of blood.

Only her weapon remained, and the blood that had painted it was hers.

Magne was dead, and it was the bastard’s fault.

“I hate this,” he muttered with ragged breath, “It’s filthy, and blood is difficult to purge from this fabric.”

Magne was dead, and this asshole had the _**gall**_ to complain about how messy it was.

“Shoulda listened to my gut about this one,” Envy stood up from their seat, “Too late now, but I might as well get rid of the problem—!”

They changed their arm into a scythe’s blade as they charged for the man. A red bullet came from nowhere, hitting them in the leg.

Their blade reverted back to a limb, the scent of mint and vanilla evaporating, Envy’s confusion gave the bastard enough time to brush his fingers over the arm, just as fast as he did with Magne.

Envy’s arm disintegrated, and a fountain of blood rained as a result.

“I told you to not _touch me_.”

Usually, Envy would regenerate from the attack, and it’d seem like nothing had happened. But blood still spilled from the wound, and Envy’s eyes were the only thing that Shigaraki needed to know that it hadn't happened before.

“What the…” They looked down at the bullet on their leg, painfully clutching their bleeding shoulder “What the fuck did you…?”

Shigaraki stood up, deciding to get it over with. He heard something hit the floor as he ran towards the man, outstretching his hand for an attack.

One of his minions acted as a human shield, and he decayed into a pile of grey dust in his place.

Apparently, this bastard was completely willing to kill and fatally injure Shigaraki’s men, but had the audacity to use a human as a defense system when he struck back.

Coward.

Shigaraki jumped back; apparently it was the right decision since the rest of his group busted in through the wall.

“You backstabbing…! I’ll kill—“

“Don’t.”

Attacking them is what got them into that mess.

“Hey, I’ll cut them with my—“

**”Don’t.”**

Patience was a virtue, and Shigaraki now aimed to claim it.

The Bastard’s henchmen stopped their attacks, now standing in front of them, threateningly.

“Good, you’ve made the right choice.”

He waved his (now gloved) hand, his henchmen backing off. The Bastard then turned around, throwing a card.

“It’s your choice, but don’t complain when the consequences catch up to you.”

The slip of paper landed at Shigaraki’s feet, he picked it up.

  
_Shie Hassakai  
Number-XXXX XXXX  
Location-XX XX XX_

“The name’s Chisaki Kai, I look forward to meeting you soon.”

Chisaki walked off, leaving the atmosphere heavy with rage.

* * *

When Dabi Came back with the stolen groceries, he almost dropped it on the ground.

Firstly, the base was a _mess_. Scarlet messily decorated the floor and walls, Magne’s weapon included; and secondly, the atmosphere was so thick that Dabi could cut it with a knife.

Everyone was… Uneasly quiet. Envy had bandages wrapped around his shoulder (the arm had completely disappeared), leaning onto Gluttony and Lust for support as sweat dripped down their forehead. Toga’s face donned a shadow and a frown as she clutched her knife so hard her hand trembled, knuckles turning white. Shigaraki was completely still, and Twice trembled with anger.

Dabi tried to ask a question.

“What the… What happened while I was gone…?”

But it came out as more of a mutter.

Shigaraki finally moved.

“A lot.”

He held up a bloodstained business card.

“Some fucker came to our base, killed Magne, deactivated Envy’s shapeshifting and regeneration powers, fatally wounded them, and left this piece of shit.”

Shigaraki almost disintegrated the slip.

“I…” He gripped the base of his face-hand, sighing, “I don’t know what to do.”

He tilted his head upwards, his eyes glowing with anger.

**”But I will get back at that son-of-a-bitch, that’s for sure”**

* * *

“I’m gonna go on a little trip, see ya soon!”

“Again? When’re you gonna tell us where you go?”

He shrugged, donning a grin. “I’ll be back soon.”

He shut the window, taking flight with his wings.

Hawks made no promises; that was one thing he was certain of.

Especially in his circumstances, being a double agent for the heroes whilst pretending to be on the villain’s side didn’t leave much for sincere truths.

… He hasn’t met the villains yet, but then again, he has met one.

Hawks was meant to meet him to trade information. It was annoying how he couldn’t meet his boss and get it over with, but Hawks could wait.

Patience was one of his virtues.

He flew over a billboard advertisement and sighed.

“Hey, Yuzuko.”

Yuzuko’s Creations was considered a symbol for support items, hell, she was the best known inventor of the damn industry; Yuzuko was like the All Might of the support industry in terms of popularity.

Hawks saw her advertisements almost everywhere he went. There would always be a poster of a woman with pink hair and an undercut, several piercings decorating her ears. He didn’t even know what her personality was like, but he felt like he knew almost everything about her by pure osmosis.

But Hawks didn’t really care about Yuzuko, he never really needed a support item in the first place.

He liked flying over the city at night. When it wasn’t raining, he could see the city lights illuminate a pale yellow against a dark street, outlining the shape of the citizens, their smiles, their laughter. Shining a light on apartment buildings and hero agencies.

It made him smile as well. It made him feel warm at the modernised beauty of it all.

… Then he remembers that villains do their absolute best to wipe that joy from their faces, and he remembers how he has to interact with thrm.

And then he remembers that he’s supposed to meet Dabi, and realises he’s almost at his destination.

He lowers himself and lands on the concrete, a dust cloud forming at his feet. Hawks looked around the barren neighbourhood, and walked into the alleyway.

Dabi was already waiting there, the shadows reducing him to a dark silhouette; his cerulean eyes were muted, and his scars were no longer visible.

~~He hated how much it reminded him of Touya. Dabi’s very existence reminded him of the boy.~~

“Hey, hero.”

He revealed himself, with that _stupid smirk._

Hawks responded, “Hey.”

Dabi’s eyes widened, “Again with the long face? Lighten up a little, won't ‘cha?”

Hawks answered with a glare. Dabi giggled.

“Alright, alright, I’ll share what I’ve got.”

He raised his hand in false surrender, starting to giggle.

“Well, the League’s been in a… Tough spot, sorts speak, to say the least; some guy from the Yakuza came and killed one of our members and severely injured another. It was a total bloodbath there.”

Hawks stared at Dabi in disbelief, “And you didn’t do anything?”

Dabi sighed “I was out getting groceries, I wasn’t there to burn him into a crisp,”

Dabi stared directly into Hawks’s eyes, sending a chill to crawl down his spine.

“Besides, I could’ve died if I interfered; I can’t follow through with Stain’s ideology if I’m dead, birdie.”

That... Wasn’t a bad argument. Shit.

“And you?”

Hawks didn’t mention anything interesting, just the usual “nothing happened today”.

But this time.

“You know what? I’m getting tired, Hawks.”

Dabi didn’t buy it.

“I give you news on the League, but in return, you speak nothing of value.”

What was this leading to?

“I’m starting to think something’s up—there is no way your life is THIS boring, could it?”

Oh.

“Have you heard of the law of equivalent exchange? To obtain one thing, something of equal value must be given. I don’t see much equivalence in our chats, birdie.”

He leaned over him, his cerulean eyes seemingly glowing.

_He was only a few inches taller, Dabi shouldn’t be towering him, damn it!_

“I’ll give you a mission of my own, to prove to me that I can trust you, and that I’m not wasting my time.”

He leaned back a few inches, before opening his mouth.

“Kill a hero and show me the body, if you’re on our side, it won’t be difficult.”

Suddenly, the world stopped.

Hawks really thought he could get through this without murder, didn’t he?

The thought of killing a fellow comrade made his skin crawl. Villains? They’re villains, they practically signed up for it the moment they rebelled.

But… A hero?

…

The ends. If civilians are safe, if the rest of the heroes were ok at the price of one, then it can’t be that bad, right?

(Maybe, maybe he’d explain it to Best Jeanist when he goes to hell. Maybe he’ll understand)

“I’ll do it.”

He forced those words out, horrified at how easy it was becoming to say the more he thought about it.

“I’ll kill Best Jeanist.”

Dabi blinked, “Damn, you have a vendetta against him or something?”

Absolutely not, but another idea was starting to bloom in Hawks’s head, one where he doesn’t have to die.

“I’m just the closest to him, it’d be easier to kill him that way.”

Dabi whistled, _Shut up._. “Damn, didn’t know you had it in ya.”

Dabi turned the other way.

“I’ll see you soon, hopefully with a body bag.”

Dabi’s humour was disgusting.

Hawks shuddered as he breathed, turning around to get out of the alleyway.

“So THAT’S who Dabi’s been seeing.”

Hawks nearly yelped as he stopped himself from falling.

He looked at the source of the voice, and saw a person with a ponytail in a halter top, covering it with a leather jacket whilst wearing ripped jeans and high platform boots.

“Who are y—“

“And who knew that the number two hero was a secret villain! God, would that devastate the public, wouldn’t it?”

The person laughed, as if it was some sort of joke.

“Y’know, I know that you don’t wanna kill you friend.”

Their purple eyes were squinted from a smile.

Hawks blinked at the utter audacity of this complete stranger.

“And how would you know? And why would I talk to you? You just eavesdropped on a _private_ conversation, and I don’t like people who invade my privacy.”

Hawks started to walk off, only to be stopped by a hand dragging him back.

“Oh no, I can tell. I’ve lived far longer than you have, Hero.”

“Far Longer? You don’t even look 20.”

The person giggled.

“Well, looks _can_ be deceiving, especially with me; and I think you’ll learn that pretty soon.”

… That was ominous. What?

“I’ll kill him for you.”

… **WHAT.**

“I don’t know who you think you are, but this is _my_ responsibility; I don’t know what kinda sick idea you got but I am not letting a fucking _stranger_ intervene with personal matters.”

The stranger smiled, it was starting to get under his skin.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

They finally left.

When Hawks went bsck to his apartment, he couldn’t fall asleep.

Well, at least that creep was wrong about one thing.

* * *

He didn’t like it.

He didn’t like his quirk.

Not just because others hated it as well, but because it came from his dad.

Fate is a horrible person, the proof was Futahana himself.

If you compared his mom and dad, you would tell that Futahana took after his father. His sister did as well.

Both siblings had hard-to-control spiky hair, both had the pink speckles in the strands, Futahana had his blue eyes, and Mitsuku had his pale skin.

He would’ve been compared to his father all the time if he was there. When his dad rarely visited, it was only for a favour. It didn’t put a good taste in either siblings’ mouth.

Futahana hated his quirk for being like his father’s, but Izuku Shigaraki thought otherwise.

Shigaraki was the reason why he stopped feeling bad about it, and he was the reason why he saw it in a new light. Izuku was one of the most wonderful people in his life.

And Futahana loved Izuku.

He loved how he brushed his white hair behind his ear, he loved how his freckles looked like constellations in the night sky, he loved when Shigaraki rambled about the things he loved, and he loved the little fidgets he did when he rambled.

Futahana didn’t know what to do with these feelings, but he knew he had them.

He’s glad his sister recommended the cafe, otherwise he wouldn’t have met him. Every time he thought of him, it was with asters and pink camellias, the scent of coffee and honey as he smiled.

His sister put it as “Izuku Shigaraki: Hana’s gay awakening” and while it was true, she shouldn’t have said it.

Futahana could stare into his red eyes all day. They fascinated him, and made him breathless.

He wanted to hold Izuku close to his chest, and keep it like that until the end of time. Every time he thought about it, he’d zone out for hours, thinking about everything about Shigaraki.

If soulmates existed, then Futahana was sure Izuku Shigaraki was his.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a comment and some kudos. have a nice day!


	11. we found a road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions, but no answer.
> 
> an imbalance, the feeling of dread seeping into your bones.
> 
> and utter confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TW for death near the end**
> 
> take a shot of water every time “oh” is said in this chapter hgsnsnsnsnk;

Uraraka laid in bed, spacing out.

All for One was arrested, and now her main income was gone. Sure, she had a part-time job, but it didn’t amount to the money that she gave to her parents monthly, and Uraraka doesn’t know how she’s gonna explain it to them.

When she agreed to the job, the man himself said something along the lines of “If I were to go away, look under the chair you sit on.”

It was tempting to do it sometimes, but she didn’t want to bear the consequences of not obeying.

And now, she could do it.

But she was hesitant, every time she thought of it, her gut felt like it got a bucket of slushed ice poured onto it; tight, and awful.

But at the same time, the feeling of want tugged on her, and it was overpowering.

So maybe it was ok to do.

There were three hours before school started, so she’s free to do whatever.

She hastily put on a rushed outfit that wasn’t the best reflection of her fashion sense and grabbed her keys on the way out of her apartment room. It was raining, so she put up her hood, huffing chalk-white breaths in the cold.

She hoped that no one had noticed a U.A student going on a train so that no one talked to her. Uraraka needed to get there as soon as humanly possible.

It was a smooth ride; well, as smooth as it could’ve been. But it went alright, and that was good enough for Uraraka.

There was a person sitting opposite her, they wore their hair in a ponytail, the clumps of hair falling on the shoulder of their leather jacket. They wore ripped jeans that almost covered their platform boots, the black leather showing through the tears.

They had the scent of mint and vanilla surrounding them, but it couldn’t mask the feeling of sorrow and despair they emitted.

It was vague, but it was there. Uraraka didn’t like how uncomfortable it was, the unsettling feeling was like someone switching out her bones with someone’s exactly like hers.

Apparently, the guide dog next to her noticed it as well, if their loud barks said anything.

“Hey! Ssshhhhh, sshh, calm down now, boy.”

The owner apologised to the stranger; they smiled.

“Oh, don’t worry about it; I’m used to dogs not liking me, heh.”

Their smile reached their eyes, and Uraraka only just noticed the fear that clawed up her spine.

Their irises were purple, and clear; like hollow marbles filled with a purple sea. There was nothing beyond the water, only the tidal waves of thought, and ripples of emotion.

It was a clean body of water. Too clean. Too… _Barren_. There were no creatures, or coral, or soul. Nothing behind the glass of the window, but violet dye.

The clarity of it all, the absence of humanity, that made the unsettlement even worse.

The fact that she recognised them made it worse.

Where did she see them? She doesn’t remember, or even wanted to remember. The ambiguity clouded her mind, almost attaching to strings.

_”Next stop,_

Then, she realised she was on a train, and not in the endless pool of water.

She trembled in her steps, almost slipping on her way out.

It was a while before she found her location, but it was like the world became darker when she arrived. The ruins of the Nomu factory were… Well, ruined, leaving only the far half of the building left.

She searched her way through the rubble, trying not to accidentally trigger a domino effect. The awareness of one single mishap causing this rest of it to crash down upon her made her surroundings stand out even stronger.

Uraraka was sure she was gonna break down if she stayed any longer.

Crawling through small holes in the debris and checking every small movement she made made this incredibly stressful. By the time she got to the stable part of the building, an hour and a half had passed since she came out of the apartment, and the train ride had taken 45 minutes.

She found that the room where she would talk to All for One was still mostly intact, and hurried over to the chair. Uraraka scrambled her hands underneath the stained wood, and felt an envelope and a sheet.

She ripped both of them off, wincing at the sound of torn paper. Uraraka looked at the sheet of paper in her hands, noting how it was starting to brown.

It was a map. A map of all the bases the League had, including the many labs hidden around Japan. She was almost starstruck at the number of buildings they managed to hide.

She flipped to the backside of the map, checking for anything else, and found a message.

_**  
The questions  
The answers  
The all  
The none  
The everything** _

_**One who can use all will see the truth, and become something more.** _

…

Uraraka decided to not bother with whatever that meant, and turned to the envelope. It was already half-opened due to the ferocity that she grabbed it with. She decided to finish the job, and read the letter inside.

_****_

_**If you are reading this, it either means that I am dead, or I’m out of commision.** _

_**Either way, I would’ve already chosen a successor by then, so there would be nothing to worry about.** _

_**Hello, Ochako; if you haven’t seen the message on the other side of the map, I suggest you read that now. If you’ve already done it, then please take great note of what I’m about to tell you.** _

_**When September 30 2XXX arrives, please check that everything is in order. You may also lose your quirk in the process, but sacrifices are necessary for a successful plan.** _

_**My homunculi will explain everything to you, so don’t be worried. This will be the most important moment of your life, for it’ll be an incredible turning point for humanity as a whole; I’m sure you’ll be excited.** _

_**Farewell, see you soon.** _

The paper creased in her hands, her knuckles turning white the harder she clenched.

“What the…”

Why was September 30 so important? Incredible turning point in humanity? What…

_What did any of it mean?_

She hated it, she hated not knowing anything, it made her feel like an idiot, and that was the last thing she needed.

She heard movement through the rubble, and her blood ran cold. It sounded like a rat, Uraraka hated rats.

“The fuck are you here for?”

Uraraka almost screamed. She caught the letter before it dropped to the floor.

“Um…” She fumbled with her words, her face heating from the panic “I… Uh—“

Crap, she didn’t have an excuse, what could she tell this person, who even WAS—

Oh.

_Oh._

“You—“ She pointed at the figure in front of her “You’re the person from the train.”

They blinked, then sighed.

“Really got your priorities in check, haven’t you?”

They walked towards her, each step heavier than the last.

“I’ll ask this again, the _fuck_ are you here for, Uraraka?”

It was just one whiplash after another, and her neck was starting to ache.

“How do you know my name?”

She only realised how stupid the question was after she asked it, _everyone and their grandmother knows the “fragile delicate girl the mean boy unfairly hurt” from the sports featival! God how am I such a dumbass?_

The stranger pinched the bridge of their nose in utter exasperation.

“Holy shit, you’re impossible.”

They stared directly into her eyes before red electricity ran up their body, changing their clothes and releasing the ponytail.

_... Oh._

“Get it now? Or is that skull thicker than I thought?”

_They were the ones that kidnapped Bakugou._

“Now, answer my _fucking question_ , if you don’t mind.”

Uraraka looked at the villain, then at the letter, then back at the villain.

They had the choice to either lie, or tell the truth. She deepened the creases, thinking about her decision.

_**My homunculi will explain everything to you, so don’t be worried.** _

If she was gonna find out what everything meant, then pretending to be on the villain’s side was her best bet.

~~She was already one, considering the circumstances and all~~

“I’m Ochako Uraraka,” she started, “and I’m the U.A traitor.”

The villain blinked, then exhaled.

“Damn, forgot we did that whole traitor thing.”

_… Huh? What did that mean? What—_

“Anyways,”

_No! Explain what you meant first!_

“I’m Envy, and I’m a homunculus.”

A homunculus?

...

Huh, turns out she had a bit of luck on her side.

“Why aren’t you at home? It’s like…7, the last time I checked? School’s gonna start soon.”

_... Oh, right._

The train took roughly an hour to get from Mie to U.A during 7-9AM, half an hour to get ready, and 15 minutes to walk to the school itself. By the time she would’ve arrived, he would’ve been several minutes late.

U.A was one of the most prestigious hero schools, and an intolerance for tardiness came as a result. What excuse could she use to avoid punishment and not incriminate her?

Besides, could she even pay attention if there was all of… _This_ on her mind? Licence exams were coming up soon, and they were _extremely_ important. If she can’t train properly, then...

Her gut screamed that she needed the answers, but at the same time, she couldn’t skip. How could she look for information whilst having an excuse to miss a day?

… An idea had sprung in her head, and Uraraka could hear the light bulb going off.

“Envy?”

She grabbed their shoulders.

“I need you to impersonate me and go to school in my place.”

There was silence, and then Envy failed to form a proper sentence.

“Wh—I—Huh?—Ok, first of all—“

They ripped her hands off their shoulder.

“Why can’t you just call in sick?”

Uraraka was fumbling around her pockets, looking for hee school id.

“Heroes don’t get ‘sick’, we aren’t supposed to be weak,” she cursed under her breath when she couldn’t find it. “Besides,” she continued “Mister Aizawa would probably ask for a doctor's note or something.”

Envy sighed, heavily, “And I should agree to this because…?”

Uraraka started to sweat, “I desperately need answers around here, and if I go to school, I’ll only think about whatever this is. It’s only for one day, and I can’t take chances of this building still standing here by the time I get back; I’ll do anything if that means you’ll agree.”

Uraraka was always described as stubborn.

“Fine,” Envy said “What are you looking for?”

“School id, but I left it in my uniform pocket.”

Without the id, getting through the gates would be impossible. The plan would fall apart the moment it started.

“... Not exactly what I meant, but don’t worry about it,”

A card materialised in their hand.

“I know the in-and-outs of that school, so I know how it’s made.”

The card disappeared, leaving Uraraka awestruck.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m only gonna do this if you do my job for me.”

Uraraka asked what they meant, they replied.

“I’m supposed to find all the remaining research Father left behind before this whole building goes down, The lab is fucking _huge_ , and it’ll probably take several hours, I’m not gonna have the time to do it today if I’m gonna act like you.”

Uraraka nodded, Envy rolled their eyes in reply.

“Right, I’ve only met you today, and I know nothing about your personality other than how airheaded and impulsive you are—if this is gonna work, I need to know how I’m gonna seem like _you_

Oh yeah.

“Well,” she started, “I usually hang out with Deku and Iida during break and lunch, I’m in seat number 5 and I’m mostly quiet during class unless I know the answer to a question.”

She started counting on her fingers.

“I’m mostly described as stubborn and cheerful, so that might help as well.”

Envy took note.

“What time is exactly right now?”

Uraraka searched for her phone, whipping it out and opening it up.

“A flip phone?”

She looked up from her screen, “Got a problem with it?”

“Eh, I just haven’t seen one in a while; I have been able to afford more.”

_Wow. Thanks for the wonderful input._

“It’s 7:25, by the way.”

Envy groaned, “Alright then, by the time I come back you’d better have held up your end of the bargain. If not then I really hope you hate having your limbs intact”

“Just make it through the day, I’m sure it’ll go well, just cover for me.” Uraraka replied.

The homunculus was gone without another word. Uraraka stretched her fingers and got to work

* * *

“This wasn’t meant to happen.”

Envy started to mutter under their breath.

“‘If it’s the traitor, you have to trust their judgment’ I’m starting to not trust yours, Father.”

The traitors were supposed to help with the whole scheme that Father wanted to enact for the past several centuries, but Envy didn’t understand why the homunculi’s contributions were enough.

“They’re humans, all they do is sit around and tell us what to do; ugh.”

At least Father’s successor was tolerable. He treated them like equals instead of glorified weapons.

.

Uh.

They meant that they didn’t mind what they were created for, it was just nice to have a little variety in their lives, y’know?

Yeah, that was it. Envy liked Shigaraki treating him like a… Friend, almost.

It was nice, Envy really liked it.

Anyways, they have a plan they need to follow. A shitty one, but they have to trust the traitor.

A blink, and suddenly, they were Uraraka Ochako.

* * *

She was quiet.

No noise came from her lips, and her face was as blank as a canvas.

Eichi looked at his friend, a girl named Imasaki Haruka, and a hero named Stretch.

She was blunt, and straightforward, but also kind and sweet. Haruka was one of the only friends Eichi had, and he was eternally grateful.

He wasn’t a favoured child. Having a quirk automatically made life miserable, especially one that manipulated emotions.

There was a rumour that went around about a man in the shadows, a man that gave and took quirks. It seemed enticing, really, considering how his life was filled to the brim with unpleasantries.

But that’s all they were, rumours. No matter how hard Eichi looked, he could never find evidence of him even existing. Haruka couldn’t find him either, and research was one of her strongest suits.

“What’s wrong?”

She hadn’t spoken a single word since she arrived, and it worried him.

“You can talk to me, y’know that? You don’t have to be worried.”

He ran his fingers down his desk.

“Because you are my greatest friend.”

Eichi spoke with sincerity in his words, not even using his quirk to get the message across.

“You’ve supported me for all these years, and I don’t know how I can repay you for all you’ve done, Haruka, so let me do the bare minimum.”

Her ginger-red locks fell over her eyes, hiding them behind a shadow.

“So, what’s wrong?”

She sighed, adjusting her hero costume.

“Y’know, Kurumae, I’m getting tired of all of… This.”

She turned her back on him.

“I’ve come to a revelation recently, and I realise I don’t have to accept your love confessions anymore.”

_Love confessions? What was she—_

“We’ve been friends longer than I could remember, but it was always me following you, like a sheep.”

She pulled out a gun, but her face was no longer hers.

It was of another person entirely, and then Eichi realised.

“You—You aren’t Haruka!”

Fear started to seep in his gut.

Their face turned back into an impersonation of his friend.

“It’s all I’ve been, Eichi; you were the one that limited my potential.”

She pulled the trigger, and pain was the only thing he recognised.

“And it’s Imasaki to you; goodnight.”

She turned towards the door.

“I hope you stay dead.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a comment and some kudos! Have a great day


	12. think twice before you move forward.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A step of the foot, a blink of an eye.
> 
> Another second, passing by.
> 
> And just like that.
> 
> Another lie was told.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TW FOR EXPLICIT MENTIONS OF DEATH AND MURDER**
> 
> yell heag babey. The angst jumped out shshdhhd
> 
> I think this chapter is alright, heh

Envy walked onto school grounds, and sighed.

They could leave here, they could just transform back into their civilian wear and buy some strawberry ice cream (chocolate and vanilla just didn’t hit it like strawberry did). They could completely ditch the mission altogether, couldn’t they?

But… Uraraka was completely willing to do their dirty work, and it would be completely unfair to not do her’s…

But why should Envy care about hurting her feelings? Humans were emotional, and Envy knew that firsthand, Uraraka could suffer the consequences herself!

… But then again, she treated them as an equal, like a friend she could ask favours from, instead of a living weapon. For someone to treat them like that…

Envy hesitated, before swallowing.

_Fuck it._

Envy scanned the id; it beeped green, so they went inside.

Damn, they really didn’t change how they made it, huh?

* * *

Envy walked by the One for All kid, the ninth user, to be exact.

He was an important part of Father’s plan, and Envy found it rather curious, a bit hilarious, you might say.

_I mean, who risks the life of his own son?_

_Someone who doesn’t believe in consequences, that’s who._

“Oh! Hey Uraraka!”

He waved frantically towards their direction, smiling like an innocent child on a sunny day.

“You came later, what’s up?”

Envy yawned, rubbing their eyes.

“I just overslept a bit,” they responded “Don’t worry about it, Midoriya.”

He seemed quite perplexed at the mention of his second name, was there a nickname he went by?

_”I usually hang out with Deku and Iida during break and lunch”_

Oh. Deku.

“You okay? You’re spacing out a lot.”

They didn’t make eye contact with him, staring at their shoes.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m just sleepy, that’s all.”

The bell rang rather conveniently, and they immediately ran to where they thought class was.

“Uh, our homeroom is here.”

Oh, right.

(It’s been decades since they were in school, give them a break.)

They followed behind, squeezing between the crowd of students.

* * *

So turns out, Envy wasn’t wrong about how big the lab was.

On the ground floor? Sure, it was kinda large, but it was easy to walk around. The basement?

It made her sick.

Rows upon rows of empty capsules filled to the brim with green liquid, stray cables floating around. Each one was labeled with a metal plate, some saying “High end” and others saying “Testing”.

She wasn’t supposed to be here. She wasn’t supposed to be here. _She wasn’t supposed to be here. She wasn’t supposed to be here. She wasn’t supposed to be here. She wasn’t supposed to be here. She wasn’t supposed to be here. **She wasn’t supposed to—**_

_No! Focus! Envy is going to school for this! She was supposed to keep up her end, after all…_

In her bag, there were log books. Log books she found lying around that she thought was important. Uraraka wanted to read them, but her gut told her not to.

She found some stray pages underneath each capsule; some of them were blueprints, others were identification papers.

Her fingers, with each page she stuffed in, her fingers felt stained, and _filthy_.

It was already half an hour, and she only managed to clear 2 rooms.

God, this was gonna take a while.

* * *

Envy felt nostalgic walking through the halls.

The last time they were here, they were spying on the students, looking for a pillar, and the school definitely had some changes.

It was jarring, walking past the revamped classrooms, if they were honest.

They remember so much, like wiping out all the students, and cleaning it all up. So many memories were made in these walls, and Envy cherished them all.

Speaking of, it was the anniversary of that day, wasn’t it?

How time flies, it goes so slow, but so fast.

They walked into class, and sat down at… Which desk was it again?

… Oh right, number 5.

Envy kicked their legs underneath the table, waiting for homeroom to start.

(And ignoring how Ninth stared at them)

* * *

Smaller rooms branching off of big room were the absolute worst.

Uraraka almost regretted taking on Envy’s job altogether. How could basement be this _huge?_

Her bag was halfway full, and she was only a quater of a way in.

She might’ve given in the temptation to read once or twice, but she couldn’t understand a single word either. Nothing made sense, and nothing added up.

What was a philosopher's stone? Why was U.A so important? Human pillars? Why were people involved in everything?

And why was that date so relevant?

* * *

“If you agreed to stay in the dorms, please make sure you have checked everything to place in your rooms. They will be available to you next week.”

* * *

If Uraraka almost cried because of her frustration, no one needed to know.

Envy would probably make fun of it anyway.

* * *

What was the term for this type of stuff? Herowashing?

According to U.A, The Disappearances of 2XXX was an incident where a villain captured many students to strike fear into civilians; but in the end, through trial and error, the students got saved by the heroes (albeit with emotional damage) and everyone got therapy and was happy.

It was supposed to be a lesson about spreading awareness about the lengths the villains would go to and how heroes can save anyone if they push themselves; there was also something about the emotional trauma and how it could change people.

But the thing is, that story was bullshit made up by the homunculi themselves.

First of all, it wasn’t “many students” missing, it was the entirety of U.A slaughtered without a second thought. Envy, Lust and Gluttony destroyed any evidence left of their existence, leaving behind an empty building.

Heroes couldn’t find them, there were no students to find. No dice on the villains either. The students that supposedly “came back”? Those were the new ones that wanted to go regardless of what had happened.

The only evidence of them even existing was the stone that they were powering.

It wasn’t meant to go this out of hand, the story only started out with the students getting kidnapped and the heroes trying to succeed in their pointless endeavour. _I guess news outlets and tabloids really are powerful, huh?_

Herowashing, the word disgusted Envy. Heroes who claimed they did something heroic, inserting themselves in the conversation, whilst they didn’t do anything at all.

People always did hate the idea of their idol not being perfect.

Oh well, Lunch was starting soon, they can complain about it later.

* * *

_Would Envy find out if I took a look at the research?_ she wondered, trying to find a clue for her piles and piles of questions.

She can take a break, it’s been several hours, so she’s allowed to preoccupy herself, right?

* * *

“Hey, Uraraka, are you ok?”

Envy yelped, almost tipping from their seat.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it, Deku!”

How was Uraraka dealing with all the research? Lord, if Envy had any empathy, they’d probably feel bad.

Well, then again, Father did pick the traitors carefully, so there was a little faith in there.

They just had to make sure she came out sane.

* * *

_Null, balance, all, none, all, one, power, power, power, power, hero, villain, villain, hero, id, u.a, hero, none, null, create, destroy, null, null, null._

Her mind was becoming numb, the tear stains on her cheeks drying out.

She was tired, so, so tired.

* * *

Midoriya was worried.

Uraraka had been spacing out all day, and only said a few words per sentence.

When she hung out with him and Iida, she stared at him, a glassy look in her eyes, like a sea with no coral.

When he asked if anything was wrong, she denied it, saying that she was fine. Midoriya didn’t believe it.

The entire day went like that; she was distant, separate, the smell of mint and vanilla trailing behind her, unraveling like ribbons. Midoriya felt his anxiety spike at the implications.

Did she hate him? Did she not trust him? Was she unwell? Why wouldn’t she tell him anything?

_What happened to her?_

It was the last lesson of the day, and the char-black limbs grabbing at his gut wasn’t getting any better. He tapped his foot, the pencil in his mouth dented with bites.

The wood sat between his teeth, stopping him from mumbling; no one seemed to notice how different she was, why should he burden them with his probably far-fetched concern?

“Please hand in your completed homework by Thursday.”

Kaminari groaned, doodling on his notebook.

“You’re all dismissed.”

Mister Aizawa was the only one who seemed to notice, if his concerned stares said anything. He hurried and packed his bag, hoping that tomorrow would be different.

He waved to Uraraka’s direction, putting on a smile for her to see. She didn’t respond.

“Uraraka.”

She paused, turning her head around.

**“You’re staying behind.”**

His eyes glowed, hair raising; and it immediately took effect.

A red flash ran up her body, changing from his friend to a complete stranger.

They had a toned figure and completely different clothing; a black outfit that matched their long hair, and those dead eyes.

But those eyes were purple, and that made everything worse.

His teacher restrained them with his capture weapon, muting them in the process.

**_“Because YOU are going to explain yourself.”_ **

* * *

Getting tied up to a chair and having the answer a bunch of teenagers was not on Envy’s agenda.

Damn it. This wasn’t meant to happen.

“What did you do to Uraraka? Where is she?”

They graoned, swaying their feet back and forth.

“She’s okay; she’ll be here tomorrow.”

Aizawa didn’t take that for an answer.

_**”You didn’t answer my question.”** _

Hmm…

Living for several centuries did things to a person, they can notice small things, details, understand people better. Envy was no exceptions

There was an… Unease, in the air. Furrowed brows and clutched chests. If Envy twisted it right, they could ring out enough distrust to humidify their harmony.

They could, and they did.

“Y’know what?”

They started.

“It’s hilarious how the world views heroes as gods, and villains as evil demons, like some sort of fantasy book; but have you considered that some of your favourite heroes, or friends, might not be who they are?”

They didn’t outright say it.

“What was the phrase they use in France, ‘still waters run deep’? Let’s say your friend was… A traitor, of some kind,”

They only suggested it.

“Would you still blindly trust everyone you’re on good terms with? Would you forgive her, despite her being the reason you’re being attacked by villains? If it was anyone else, you would call them a monster, isolate them before tearing them apart, wouldn’t you?”

But the seed was planted, dropped in the water, creating ripples that grew and grew; until finally.

**“Who do you think you ARE?!”**

Waves, crashing against the walls, destroying their composure, damning everything in its way.

And in the middle of the catastrophe, a tree, blossomed from betrayal, and lies. A tree, beautiful and glorious, the scent of corpses betraying the mirage.

“You don’t know her, you can’t say anything about her! What’s the point in trying to pit us against her? You’re just a disgusting villain who knows nothing about others!”

There was an edge of hesitation in Iida’s words, dripping with doubt and hesitation, like blood from a wound.

“Hey man, it’s all hypothetical.”

But Envy knew what they were doing. They knew full well that the seeds weren’t for daisies and sunflowers.

The tension, it was getting thicker with every second ticking on the clock.

The ropes, they were feeling tighter.

Well, they did what they had to do, albeit with a few troubles, but it worked out in the end.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,”

An arm turned into a blade, and sliced through their bindings. It was like the world blurred right past them, each step inciting more rage in the students.

Until finally, the window shattered, shards flying in every direction.

Shit, the fall was gonna hurt, especially with several shards of glass piercing their skin. 

_Oh well, it can heal._

They fell with a tumble, almost screaming at the pain.

* * *

All the research was collected, and Uraraka wanted to go home so, so badly.

At least it’s over now, right? At least she doesn’t have to suffer anymore with all the information she gathered, right?

Some part of her wanted to rip them all up, let it burn up with the rest of the building. But at the same time, Uraraka didn’t have several breakdowns just to not keep up her end of the bargain, did she?

Fuck, maybe becoming a traitor was the wrong choice after all.

* * *

It was quiet.

The night was cold, the moonlight sinking to the bottom of Father’s tea.

It was quiet, with the sound of satisfaction.

The sins were half asleep, Sloth already cutting to the chase. They leaned on the walls and pillars of the abandoned library, their eyes glittering amongst the shadows.

Pride could smell the must, watching as a cloud of pale white escaped his lips. The moon was a crescent, a sliver of what it used to be.

It was quiet, and the blood on the hands stained a harsh crimson.

“You want to know something?”

Father’s voice was like burnt velvet, purple chars leftover from the fire.

“If I continue this, I’ll eventually have the world in the palm of my hands.”

His irises were red, piercing, like a poisoned rose.

“One who has that power could be called a god.”

He stared at his hands, eyes squinting.

“If I were to go any further, I’d become an entirely new being. What god should I be?”

He reached out to the glassy ceiling, clenching the moon and its light.

“A god is unbound by consequences, omnipotent, even; a god can do as they please, without any harm in their way.”

He brought the fist down, staring.

“Someone who can destroy with no bounds, irreparably damaging humanity, the earth, anything,”

A fire was lit in his very soul.

“A god of catastrophe, how brilliant would that be?”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a comment and some kudos. have a lovely day!


	13. do re mi ti, how does it feel, being so easy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can smell it, can’t you?
> 
> The blame, and the blood lingering on your hands, hiding them behind your back as you lie. Lie. Lie.
> 
> To your friends.
> 
> To your family.
> 
> And to yourself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TW: _VARIOUS_ DESCRIPTIONS OF DEATH AND MURDER**
> 
> **ALSO: MANGA SPOILERS. THERE IS A BIG MANGA SPOILER IN HERE**
> 
> woot. got another chapter.
> 
> yell heah. hdhjyegshshhshsb
> 
> n e ways, enjoy this chapter, ig

Envy was wearing the concept of Hawks.

Blond hair swept out of his golden eyes, lined with markings of a bird that charmed fans around the globe, a baggy costume contrasting with his brilliant, almost beautiful red wings, that were soaked with the blood of villains that dared to cross him.

But it was all a lie, a mockery of the real hero.

And everyone believed it.

Even his greatest friend, Best Jeanist.

Who stood in front of them, waiting for a response.

The scene, it was nostalgic of 2XXX. The year of what the media called “The Temporary Collapse of Hero Society”, or of the sort.

 _”Thanks for coming, Hawks,”_ he said, _”I’m glad you’re here, ever since I lost my lung, the surgeries have been quite lonely.”_ he said.

But Envy didn’t respond, and that worried him.

“Is your new perfume blocking your ears, Hawks?” He smiled, supposedly, “I’m kidding, but is something wrong?”

Envy looked up and smirked, “Perfume?”

“You’ve had the scent of mint icecream following you around all day, to be honest, it’s kinda distracting.”

Envy stepped back, aware of the camera recording all of it.

“Oh, it’s all natural, Jeanist.”

He laughed as well.

“Like death is to life.”

But it wasn’t playful, it was dripping with malicious intent, like blood from a wound.

He blinked, “Where did that come from? I know you speak of French quotes and sayings because of your fluency, but I never heard you say that before.”

A giggle, dripping from a fang of a snake, “You could say I’m inspired by… Recent, developments.”

They removed a feather from a wing, hardening it into a blade.

With every step towards him, the hero began to panic.

“Hawks…?”

A shadow hiding their eyes, the only tell that they weren’t what they pretended to be.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, I don’t have a grudge, but rather, something else.”

They sliced the strings of denim that flew in his way, like they were just flies on a sunny day.

“You could say that I’m on both sides of the war, and I don’t mind a few casualties.”

Until finally.

“Hey… This isn’t you! You’re not in the right state of—!”

He was silenced, a feather through his heart.

“Well, you were right about one thing.”

He fell to the floor, like a fish dragged out of water.

“Maybe my scent will be the last thing you’ll ever smell, how great would that be?”

The hero fell limp, his life fading from his eyes as blood leaked from his wounds, collecting into a puddle that stained the floor.

“I bid you adieu, Jeanist.”

Envy searched for the camera, and shut it off.

“Damn it,” they said, turning back into their original body “Hawks better fuckin’ thank me for doing his job, blood is hard to clean.”

They nudged at the still-bleeding corpse with their foot, grimacing at the mess that they had caused.

“Sheesh, life was so much easier when I didn’t have to do this.”

(Life was easier because they were removed of that privilege for a while, but anyways.)

“Oh, right, the door.”

_Having unnecessary visitors would ruin it all, might as well take care of that._

They dragged a chair underneath the handle after using the keys they fished from his pocket.

“Now, time for the hard bit.”

* * *

“Where’s Envy?”

Toga paused at Chonos’s question.

“They’re doing errands, why?”

He adjusted his plague mask, “The boss wants to speak to them about the philosopher's stone.”

Oh.

_”What just happened?”_

_Chisaki tapped his beak, “So, you’re what people call a ‘homunculus’, are you?”._

_The freaky guy who forced them to admit what they were blended into the background, as if he were the smell of dust._

_“.. Yeah, I am.”_

_Envy was disturbed, but barely surprised._

_“Interesting, I thought those didn’t exist, but turns out you’re more than just an urban legend.”_

_Toga could see them barely holding back a grimace._

_“Thanks.”_

_They wasted no time in offering the bargaining chip, slamming it in front of Chisaki._

_“Anyways, this is what I’m powered by.”_

_He raised his eyebrow in piqued curiosity._

_“This is a philosopher's stone; when it’s not changing the state of the human body, it’s what you call, extremely powerful.”_

_It was a matte orb, barely any bigger than a marble._

_“Think of it as a power source, something along the lines of a battery. It makes a quirk go from useless to practically godlike, and when it’s not used for violence, any wound or illness can be healed.”_

_It rolled around in their hand, almost tipping off the edge._

_“And when it’s complete, its uses are practically infinite.”_

_‘When it’s complete’ was the key phrase, since that stone was only “halfway to perfection”, as Envy claimed._

_“Consider this my payment for you to hold up **your** end of the bargain; give us a time worthwhile, and in return, you’ll have the power of god at your fingertips. Capiche?”_

_Chisaki considered it, before nodding and opening up his palm._

_“Capiche.” He responded._

That checks out.

“What’re they doing? They didn’t notify us about this.”

Toga rolled her eyes at his grumbling “They just do that.”

It was kinda weird that they disappeared sporadically. The only explanation they gave for it was “I like being a cryptid”.

 _Which, ok, mood_ , she thought.

Chrono blinked (blunk? Blought? Eh, whatevs), “They just… Vanish?”

She nodded, spinning in her steps.

“It just be like that sometimes.”

There was a thick silence, probably too dense to cut with a knife, even ones as sharp as Toga’s.

The silence started to develop into tension, and it was definitely too thick to slice then.

“How do you feel about murder?”

So naturally, she decided to break it.

* * *

“Okay, I’ve got this.”

Hawks grabbed the duffle bag containing the false body in hands, breathing in with his nose and out of his lips.

“I just have to talk to him, he’ll understand.”

The plan was to talk to Tsunagu so that he could temporarily hide, so that Dabi would believe that he was really dead.

He didn’t want to kill him, even if it was for his mission, and trust, because...

_Because heroes don’t kill their friends, no matter if the ends justify the means._

And it would work out all fine, all in his favour. Sure, sacrifices were necessary, but some just weren’t the risk, right?

Right?

All he had to do was reason, and it would be okay.

So Hawks stood up, spread his wings, and—

“Hey, dipshit.”

—Almost tripped and fell from the stranger's interruption.

Wait.

“What are you _doing_ here? I thought you’d realise I want nothing to do with you.”

They tsked, showing a duffel of their own.

“So much hostility, but I was the one who did your job; cleaning was extremely inconvenient.”

__

_Huh?_

_What were they…?_

_... They… They couldn’t have meant—_

The stranger dropped it on the floor, barely batting an eye at the loud thunk.

“It’s here, you can show it to Dabi.”

And the moment he opened the zipper, he almost fainted.

He’d seen dead bodies before, he’d created bodies before, whether by a stab or forgery.

But this.

“You can thank me, I just for the job you were too scared to do.”

**This was a corpse of a hero.**

“You’re kinda indebted to me, now that I think about it.”

Hawks could barely hear their voice over his thoughts, a hurricane storming a once clear-blue sea.

How could he have thought he would get out of this with no consequences? A hero can’t even do their job without any casualties, why did Hawks think he’d be any different? Why did he think that the universe would take pity on him?

He would’ve laughed if he wasn’t the punchline of the joke.

_It was doomed from the start, wasn’t it?_

He’d barely grumbled a thanks, before snatching the body away.

* * *

“I don’t mind killing if it’s for the clan.”

Toga pouted, “Hm, that’s kinda boring.”

He raised his eyebrows, “Boring?” he asked.

“Killing For someone else gets a little dull real fast, it’s just another form of responsibility, and making your love into your job.”

She mimed a blade, waving it like a pendulum on a clock.

“And people like that don’t even have the decency to look their victims straight in their eyes, despite knowing that they’ll be the last thing they’ll ever see.”

She smiled, continuing her tangent.

“Here’s a tip: remember your victims, because each and every one of them have memories that live on, that’ll never be forgotten, and as long as that happens, they’ll never forget you.”

Chrono sighed, “You’re a psychopath.”. Toga stuck out her tongue.

“Hey, if I had a choice, I wouldn’t be in the yucky yakuza, I’d be with the league, probably stealing or something.”

He sighed, deeply.

“I’m exhausted.”

Toga giggled, “That’s just part of the package.”

But she knew, despite his insults, he was taking her advice; whether it was to heart was up to interpretation.

…

And then, somebody busted down the door. Loudly.

“What the fuck.” Chrono muttered.

**”NO WORRIES! IT'S JUST ME!”**

The faraway voice was slightly unfamiliar, until the figure got closer.

“Hey.”

Oh.

And it was Envy.

“Yo, Chisaki wants to see ya.”

Envy blinked at the news. “Where and why?”

“Please, can someone tell me what is going on?”

The man himself came from the shadows.

“Well damn, speak of the devil and he’s here, I guess.” Envy yawned as they spoke, “Whaddya want?”

Chisaki slammed the wall, fixing the door as if nothing had happened. “I want more information on the stone you gave me.”

“Hah?” they responded, “Didn’t I already tell you enough?”

Envy still followed him as Chisaki pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Must you _always_ be this difficult?”

They groaned, “I mean, when someone fucks up someone else’s arm, they don’t really have the best taste in their mouth, do they?”

Envy remembers almost fainting as they leaned on to their siblings. Envy didn’t have the ability to pass out in the past several centuries.

“But then again,”

They grew a smile, holding their hands to the back of their head.

“I’m just here to make your life hell, little man.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh shit no flashback scene at the end lol
> 
> (I didn’t really feel like it today dhhdhhsjsb)
> 
> please leave a comment and some kudos! and have a great day


	14. slipping through the clouds.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connection is a link, a chain, if you will. But it’s not a punishment, and you aren’t tied to a dead end.
> 
> It can be a string, or a rope, a representation of your closeness, and holding up your end can show that.
> 
> Showing sympathy and compassion isn’t a weakness. It never was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TW mentions of killing**
> 
> this chapter is. vibeless. H
> 
> So I might go back to the whole “Several-liner-quips” sorta jazz for chapter summaries because making up poems for them was fun at first but now I’m here like. H what the hell.
> 
> Poems are fun but not when you do them repeatedly:pensiveclown:
> 
> anyways! Enjoy the chapter

“Oi, Eri?”

She jolted in surprise, hiding behind the covers in instinct.

“It’s just me, Envy.”

It didn’t bring her out, they opened the door anyway.

“Hey, c’mon now, there’s no need to be scared.”

Eri started to creep out, albeit, very slowly.

“I have food.”

Envy sat next to her, making the bed dip uncomfortably.

They slammed the knife into the food, making her jolt at the clunk.

“Bad habit of mine.” they laughed. “Say, what do you think about us three?”

She blinked, “Huh?”

“You know, me, Toga, Twice.” they sighed, “Toga and Twice made a bet together about who you like best, it’s fucking ridiculous.”

“Fucking ridiculous.” she parroted under her breath; Envy had interesting vocabulary.

“Yeah, exactly, and since I'm on food duty today, Toga kept on pestering me, telling me to ask you about who you like better—humans, Eri, I don’t get them.”

She hummed.

“I don’t know, they’re kind of scary…”

Envy groaned, “Toga and Twice do gush on children a lot, like they’re goddamn grandmas, ever since they declared themselves as—“ They mocked quotation marks, “—‘BFFs’, they’ve become fucking _insufferable_.”

They crossed their leg over the other, relaxing all of their limbs, “Though, if I got the option to stay with the Shie Hassaikai, I’d stay with them.”

Eri forgot to breathe at the mention. Envy noticed.

“They’re cruel to you, aren’t they? All of this could’ve been avoided if Chisaki had just used his brain, y’know?”

Envy emphasised their point by tapping their head.

“His quirk is quite literally Overhaul, he could get rid of the quirk factor himself instead of using a small girl to get his way. Typical humans, they’re always so sadistic, every last one of them.”

“But…”

Envy raised an eyebrow, “What?”

“Aren’t you, um… Cruel? Um… You talk about how you hur—kill people sometimes, and, uh…”

She scrunched the blanket up to her face.

“I think it’s weird that, um, you—you claim to be better when you look and, uh… Act the same as humans?”

There was a dark shadow over their eyes, and Eri panicked.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m sorry I didn’t me—“

“No, no, it’s alright, actually.”

He held the plate, refusing to make eye contact.

“The thing is, Eri, I know what I am, I know that I’m not supposed to care for humans, and with that freedom, I can do whatever the hell I want.”

Their voice trembled slightly, as if doubt played a role in Envy’s words.

“I was made to be a weapon, they were made to be a person, it’s as simple as that; at least I recognise the harm I bring.”

She blinked, then lowered the blanket.

“Hey, Envy?”, she asked. “Why is your name Envy?”

They slammed the food in front of her immediately, “Goodbye Eri.”

The fork banged against the plate with a loud clang, making her flinch. By the time she regained her senses, Envy already slammed the door.

Eri started chewing the food through her confused guilt, her brows furrowing.

_Did I say something I shouldn’t have? Oh no, they’ll hate me, won’t they…_

She swallowed back, and bit her fork.

* * *

Envy leaned on a wall, and slid down.

_That damn brat._

Turns out, even decades worth of buried feelings sprung out at the flick of a switch. What the fuck.

Envy was above this. They were a homunculus, not… Not a human, not a human with these _emotions_ ~~, no matter how much Envy wants to be one. But Envy isn’t Greed, now, are they?~~

~~Eri was too fucking perceptive~~.

Whatever. It didn’t matter. Envy wasn’t made to be like a human. Envy was made to hate. To be a weapon.

That’s what Father always intended, and it’s not like Envy can escape his impact.

~~Like they said, they’re not Greed, after all.~~

Whatever. Whatever! Fuck this noise, they’re going to get the hell out of here; maybe for a few hours, maybe for a few days! Transform into someone else, buy strawberry ice cream, self care, _bitch!_

_Is that how it’s used? That phrase died years ago. Ugh, how obnoxious. But seriously, this angsting around is getting annoying._

~~Sooner or later Envy would realise that these feelings they despised were in fact, natural, and the thing they needed was guidance and support, not ignorance of said feelings and war crimes.~~

Envy stepped outside, and began to wonder.

They can have a little freedom. As a treat.

* * *

“With all due respect, why must I be the one to investigate?”

She tapped her fingers on the desk, creating a hollow rhythm.

“Tsukauchi already has enough on his plate, if I were to dump this onto him, the stress would severely decrease the quality of the results; besides, you have an enviable track record when it comes to your analysts and assessments.”

Nighteye repressed a groan.

“And you got this from where?”

She blinked, “What do you mean, and what are you implying?”

“I don’t mean to question your methods, president, but how do you know about whatever is going on in the Shie Hassiakai? How did you manage to get this source of information when surely they _must_ be spending resources to keep this under wraps?”

Nighteye felt as if he was treading on dangerous territory, but it’s not like he can let the question simmer any longer, is it?

She sighed, “With all due respect, you must realise that with years of running the hero commision comes an equal amount of experience; I’ve found ways that not even you can imagine, and I’d say they’re pretty effective.”

She stared at the picture of Hawks framed on the wall, his ochre eyes blank with… Anything, really.

“If you don’t want anyone else to be victimised to that yakuza, then I suggest you take this up; maybe your new interns can help you, they do have to do a work study.”

She held out a folder and slid it across the wooden table.

“I look forward to the results.”

(She said, in one of the most monotone voice he’s ever heard)

Nighteye picked it up, staring a the yellow cover.

“Very well.”

* * *

Humans, they do hurt people, didn’t they?

Eri would know. Eri has the bandages to prove so.

Are all people like that? Are people made to hurt? It’s pretty believable, and Eri is willing to buy it.

But Eri doesn’t want the cold looks of Chisaki’s friends when they look down on her, she wants warmth from a hug that she sees girls on stickerbooks do. Hugs are supposed to be warm, aren’t they?

She raised the blanket higher, cacooning her entirely in darkness.

* * *

Envy was having a nice time.

They had more excuse to indulge themself more (Father is in jail and Chisaki can go fuck himself <3) and Envy liked being a cryptid that disappeared at random hours of the day. ~~Pretending to be a human almost filled the empty void in his gut. It was a… Nice feeling, to say the least.~~

~~Strawberry icecream contributed to the feeling as well.~~

It was supposed to be a day to themself, which is why Envy almost tripped ~~and died~~ when they saw Pride sit on the pavement.

“P— _Selim_ what the FUCK.”

Pride stared at them with deadpan eyes, “I’m a child, don’t swear you dumbass.”

_This little—_

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Envy half-yelled; it was barely even a question.

“Nothing.”

Envy blinked, then groaned, “You’ve been acting like this since when? A month ago? You’ve been acting all… Distant! And alone! I THOUGHT ‘strength in numbers’ was—“

“I’ll believe in ‘strength in numbers’ when Father stops being a coward and releases us all.”

Envy felt their heart stop, and slowly turned to face Pride.

“Hey, I thought you sucked up to him the most out of all of us? What’s with the name calling?”

Pride looked directly at the ground, seemingly unable to take his eyes off it.

“He’s a coward. He decided to lower himself to a human and let his feelings decide his actions; how can I respect someone like that? A Father who’s only a shell of what he once was?”

.

Oh.

“He may have forgotten what he was,” Pride muttered, “But I haven’t.”

It may have been unnoticeable to a human, but Envy could see how the shadows twisted and turned, seemingly swallowing itself whole.

“Shit, Selim, you always were the ‘Pride of the family’”

Envy giggled at their stupid little joke.

“But really, I guess I’m just… Surprised by this development, to say the least.”

It was like. Something was bubbling. Deep inside of him. Something that would tip over the cauldron and overflow. Pride shifted at the sidelines, his eyes purple and pupil-less and empty.

Pride always liked to be a star, even one hidden in plain sight. He always wanted to be a major role in every move he made and every syllable he spoke.

Seeing him act like an extra in the background, sitting, expectant, waiting for something, or someone. It filled Envy with… It filled them with what they assumed was. Dread.

“You would be surprised, wouldn’t you?”

Pride got up.

“Well, I can’t say I didn’t expect it.”

* * *

“You’re mumbling again, Sir.”

Nighteye popped out of his trance, “Oh hi, Bubble Girl.”

She paused, and sighed, figiting with the papers in her hand.

“You were muttering about Midoriya again; I don’t know why you hate him so much, or why you think he’s detrimental to Tog—Mirio’s growth, but I think you need to open up and give him a chance.”

She placed down the coffee on the desk, the brown liquid swirling around in the All Might mug.

“I’m personally excited to see him, despite being so known for breaking his body,” she giggled, “So try to put your differences aside, I’m sure he’s a bright kid.”

Nighteye took the coffee, “I’ll try, but I don’t think much will change; I can’t fathom why Togata wants to work with him so much.”

Awata sighed again, “You don’t see every side of the story, I guess.”

She walked towards the door frame, “Good luck on the case, by the way; tell the analysts that I said good luck to them too.”

* * *

All For One wondered about the outside. More specifically, the sky.

He’d almost forgotten what the colours were, seeing only harsh reds and greens and blues with the occasional white with his infrared vision for the past… What? 5-6 years? Affected him. A lot.

He only remembers the concept of a night sky. A dark navy sheet, sometimes splattered with blood-like stars if he was lucky. A moon would be present too, but sometimes it wasn’t there, and sometimes there was only a fraction of it; like a crescent, or a half.

And that was all good, but he wanted to see. He wanted to rewind, relearn his memories, and make the concepts tangible. Like what did his prison cell look like? Is it grey? Does it have hue? Or is it a blinding, empty white? Layers upon layers upon layers of absolute nothing? Or was it an all consuming black, leaving him in perpetual darkness?

He also wondered about how the homunculi were doing without his guidance, and whether Shigaraki was using them correctly. As long as they were competent and alive, he’d be pleased.

All For One sat in his thoughts, simmering in silence as they tracked his brain. Lucky for him, they only tracked it to see if he would use his quirk. Unlucky for them, he wasn’t even planning to use his quirk.

All he has to do is wait patiently for the right moment.

Really, he was surprised how easy Gigantomachia caught on, even when Pride trained him like a dog. Morse code was a magical thing.

Any language was.

Every single one of them.

But despite that, despite all of it, no word in any dictionary will ever describe the numbness that pulsed in his veins.

Being stuck here was… Draining. Strapped in a straitjacket and only being able to speak once a month if he was lucky; The fact that All Might left him here and never looked back, he probably thought that this was righteous punishment.

Well, consider his atrocities, that’s a little understandable. He practically added new laws to the Geneva Convention by mere existence.

All For One smiled at the thought. He liked being influential.

* * *

He was distant. Izuku didn’t know why.

Futahana said that he shouldn’t investigate further, but Shigaraki doesn’t know what else to do.

“Hyakunen has been… Off, since I brought up the death of Empath, he’s been dancing around the subject, like he doesn’t want to answer me.”

He let his fingers interlock with Hana’s.

“I don’t know why he’s acting like he’s the murderer, and not Stretch, but it’s… Worrying me, you know?”

Hana hesitated, “Do you know who your brother is?”

Shigaraki blinked, trying to understand his implications, “Huh?”

“Zuku, he,” Hana pinched the bridge of his nose, “shit, probably shouldn’t say this here.”

Unprompted, he stood up, securing Izuku’s hand into his own; and started running.

“Sorry for all of this, but we’re going to my place.”

Hana looked back, ignoring Shigaraki’s yells of protest.

“Do you have enough money for a bus ride?”

Izuku barely managed to nod, “Why are we going to your place?”

Hana muttered, just loud enough for Izuku to hear it.

“Considering the fact that he has a cult following, there’s a good chance that I’ll get us both into danger with no escape; if even one of his listeners hears us,”

He sighed, “please trust me on this, okay?”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I reread the Gay Parts of this fic for reference and I almost completely forgot what they said and so I was sitting there the whole time like *crying* “who the fuck wrote this”
> 
> please leave a comment and some kudos! have a fantastic day


	15. different side of the same coin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick tock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhh **cw cigarettes in the first section**
> 
> literally had to reread my own fic to make sure I didn’t fuck up the continuity and Man. there was a Lot
> 
> I know this chapter is really short but the next will be the conclusion to the Overhaul arc and judging from the content I’ll put in it /much/ longer
> 
> anyway. enjoy, I guess

“You won’t believe what Hawks told me today.”

Envy raised an eyebrow, “What?”

It was raining, giving some semblance of background noise, the dark alleyway barely giving any shelter. Dabi still tried to light a cigarette, his quirk used for the flame.

“Apparently, Nighteye’s agency is looking into the whole Overhaul yakuza deal; do with that, what you will.”

Envy blinked, then started to snort.

“Really? Nighteye, of all people; Hawks is involved with him? All Might’s old sidekick? Well, I can’t say I expected that.”

Dabi inhaled, then took the cigarette from his scarred lips, a slight bluish smoke escaping from them, disappearing in the rain.

“Apparently, he heard it from one of the U.A students, don’t remember who.”

The air smelt burnt, even more than before.

“Why are they looking into the Shie Hassaikai, anyway?” Envy asked.

Dabi hummed in response, “Not sure, but something in my gut tells me it’s also Hawks’s doing.”

“Oh, it always comes back to him, doesn’t it?”

“Mhm,” Dabi stared at the cigarette sitting between his fingers, “You could say that.”

* * *

“Nighteye’s agency is _what?!_ ”

Envy nodded, “Yep. We might have the heroes on our trail, again. Haven’t decided if this is a good or bad thing yet.”

“Are you kidding, this is a horrible situation! We’ll get our asses kicked again!”, Twice spoke up, “What do you mean haven’t decided?!”

Envy sighed, sitting down, “Well, yeah, it kinda sucks because, like you said, we’ll probably get our ass beat if we’re unprepared, but on the otheerrr…”

They leaned forward, looking off sideways

“The league is technically part of the Shie Hassaikai, right? So that means _they’ll_ get their asses kicked too, if we twist it the right way then maybe we’ll get off scot free, and the yakuza’ll be weakened. Drastically. Maybe even destroyed if we try hard enough.”

Twice and Toga’s eyes widened and glistened almost simultaneously at the thought of revenge.

“Are you saying that you have a plan?”

“If that’s the case, I’m in!”

Envy smiled, ~~enjoying their company, like they were friends.~~

“Not really, it’s more like, a skeleton, some bare bones of an idea, y’know? Buuuttt,”

They adjusted their position.

“I’m willing to share; hey, how good are y’all at planning?”

* * *

Deku wandered the fairly busy streets, Togata walking next to him.

“So, what’s your hero name Midoriya? I can’t keep calling you by your last name during this entire internship, haha.”

He was fiddling with the fingertips of his glove, before jumping at Togata’s voice.

“Oh! It’s Deku.”

His smile morphed into piqued confusion.

“Deku? Like… Deck? Or, useless? Huh, why’s that so, if you don’t mind telling me.”

His heart rate steadied, the gloved hand scratching the back of his neck.

“Well, Deku is a… Name, that others used to call me in middle school; I didn’t have many friends, or the best… Time,”

His face melted into something more sombre.

“but one of my friends here helped me reclaim it, and now it’s me saying ‘I can do it!’ and that I can overcome any challenge, and stuff like that, y’know?”

His hand reached and scratched the back of his neck.

“Ah, that’s just me though, the reason might be a bit lame compared to yours, Togata.”

He blinked, “Oh, sorry! I didn’t realise it had so much weight to it; but man, it’s so cool that you managed to reclaim it, that’s… Totally like what a hero would do!”

Togata smiled, “My hero name is Lemillion, because I want to save at least a million people during my career as a hero! I may not be able to save the world, but I can save that much! … Ah, now that I think about it, my reason isn’t as awesome as yours, hahah.”

Deku flapped his hands, “Oh, no no no! It’s not lame! I think it’s noble, actually, to want to save a million people, and since you use your quirk so well, I’m sure you’ll be able to—”

He froze in his steps, his blood equally as cold.

There was something wrong; a buzz rang throughout his brain, almost inducing static. He could barely make out words from his thoughts, only _danger, danger, danger, DANGER._

“Deku? You alright there?”

The buzz wasn’t silenced, instead reduced to background noise.

“Oh, sorry, I guess I got distracted for a second, haha, um, sorry about that.”

The static got louder as he heard footsteps from the alleyway to the left of him; they only grew longer as the seconds tick, tick, ticked.

Eventually, a silhouette formed from the shadows, and the silhouette collected more details as it reached the light; a small girl who couldn’t be older than seven ran into him.

The buzzing got louder, the voicing now yelling to run, run, _RUN._

And another pair of footsteps creeped from the dark, though these ones were more controlled, and steadied.

The girl tremble, Deku felt, concerned, and rather awkward.

“Oh, are you oka—?”

**”She’s fine.”**

Another voice answered his question, but it wasn’t Togata’s, or the girl’s.

“Ah, I see you’ve bumped into my daughter; Eri, could you come back to me? You’re being a nuisance to these heroes.”

Deku felt his heart stop, and suddenly, the noise in his head made _so_ much more sense.

“Hey, who are you heroes, anyway? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you too patrol around here; though I don’t come out often.”

Deku felt fabric go over his head, and onto his face. It was probably his bunny hood. Though, he couldn’t focus on it; the fear was too strong.

“Oh, we’re interns! Don’t worry about us, haha.”

Togata said it all through clenched teeth. The man in front of them nodded thoughtfully, Deku felt his throat close up.

“I see, I see.”

The girl started to whimper, Deku wrapped his arms around her for comfort.

“Please…”

Eri clung to the fabric of his hero costume.

**”Please, don’t go.”**

His throat started to release, the fear slowly turning into anger at the implications; Deku stared at the bandages, then at the man in front of him.

“Hey, sorry if this sounds rude, but what are you doing to your daughter.”

Wrong question, the air started to frost over. Or at least, it felt like it.

“She’s just like that, Eri was always a scaredy-cat.”

He outstretched his gloved hand, in command.

“Eri, you don’t want to hurt them, do you?”

She froze, then ran towards him.

“Good, good, you understand,”

A shadow was cast over his eyes, venom glazing over the last words they heard him say.

**”predictable as always, hurting yourself to protect others; really, humans care too much for strangers.”**

Overhaul and Eri disappeared back into the alleyway, and Deku felt like passing out. The suffocating scent that Midoriya couldn’t decipher left trailing behind the villain didn’t help.

Especially since it was so familiar.

* * *

Lust bit her tongue in frustration.

If Envy kept on stalling any longer then Tsukauchi would eventually find out the truth. His ambiguity on the subject along with him dancing around it whenever she asked made the time limit even _worse_ from the uncertainty.

And now they wanted to enact a plan involving most of the league and their siblings that had no guarantee of success, considering it relied on so many _variables_ , variables which, if uncounted for, could end in irreversible failure.

And worst of all, Tomura _agreed_ to it.

… Well, in any case.

“Gluttony.”

He peeked his head up, blinking.

“If worse comes to worse, you’re free to eat whoever I tell you too, got it?”

* * *

Eri shivered under the thin covers, both from the cold and from the memories.

She didn’t know what they wanted with her, but she doesn’t know if she hated the outside or not.

The outside was too loud. She and them only stuck to alleyways, probably not to be seen, or found. The smell of something burnt was suffocating, it was probably smoke. Most definitely smoke. It was unfamiliar, too jarring.

But, the outside also had the boy. He held her gently, and it was. Warm.

Warm, how long had it been since she last felt Warmth?

She felt her eyes water and blur, Eri wondered if it was a mistake to walk away, everything she did was a mistake.

But if they said it was for the greater good, then…

Then it’d be worth it, wouldn’t it?

Eri doesn’t know certainty anymore; only shaky trust in others that she isn’t allowed to break.

Would that change soon? Or… Eri knows it’s silly to hope, but….

_Would the boy come back?_

* * *

Three days have passed by.

Everything fell into place.

* * *

“And you’re talking to me, because?”

Toga smiled.

“Do you really need reasons? Is it not enough to simply warn you?”

Chisaki’s eyes widened, his breath stopping.

“Warn me?”

The smile got wider, somehow.

“Yup, word’s out that the heroes know of Eri.”

Toga didn’t pay attention to his reaction, “A small, fragile girl with a powerful quirk under the care of the head of Shie Hassaikai, I wonder how they would react to that, huh? I mean, the heroes wanted to save Bakugou of all people, maybe they’ll try to save the girl too.”

She started to giggle slightly, “Though, it all depends if they know your location, Mister Yakuza.”

A beat of silence, then a breath.

“So what you’re saying is that you’ve ‘warned’ me for nothing?”

Toga shrugged, “You can decide that for yourself, Chisaki.”

She started walking toward the door.

“In the meantime, why don’t you prepare? Better safe than sorry.”

Toga stepped through the door frame, perfectly happy with the outcome.

* * *

Envy would be, too.

* * *

Midoriya Izuku swallowed his fears and regrets, and determination was left behind.

He won’t mess up this time, he’ll save her, no matter what it takes.

He will be her hero.

* * *

The building of the Shie hassaikai is surrounded by heroes.

And they couldn’t be happier.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally. I can do the shit I’ve planned since July


End file.
